Eroninja: The Limelight
by The Lemon Sage
Summary: A story which shines a spotlight on the kunoichi in Naruto's life as he continues in his goal to unite the shinobi world in a way that would make Jiraiya proud.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So if these type of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks.**

**Author's Note: The following events take place during chapter 30 of Eroninja, while I tried to not make it necessary to read that chapter it does cast a light on some of what is going on.**

**Eroninja: The Limelight**

**Chapter 1: Tenten**

**The Fastest Way to a Girl's Heart is with Something Sharp and Pointy**

Tenten stepped out of the rundown and abandoned apartment building in which the basement entrance to the Den was housed. Knowing that at one time Orochimaru had called it home always left the kunoichi with a feeling of dread especially when in the early morning or late at night when she was alone. Looking back at the entrance she smiled at how the ominous place now served as a cover for what was becoming a home away from home for many of the kunoichi in Naruto's life. The addition of the Harem Room guaranteed that at the very least the underground of Konoha would be reclaimed from Orochimaru's legacy, but to be replaced with what she wasn't quite sure yet.

That wasn't to say that others hadn't already come to a decision after all she knew that Tsunade probably considered it her true home. Yet to Tenten, she still wasn't exactly sure what she wanted from the relationship with Naruto just yet. She was still reeling from the fact that according to the Hokage, she hadn't truly been bound until she submitted in the hotsprings upon their return to Wave.

She subconsciously rubbed near where her fox mark was and upon realizing what she was doing so smiled before sighing at the confusion she felt. The truth was that her problem stemmed from the simple matter that outside of being a kunoichi she had never given much thought to anything else. However, she had been thinking about a great deal lately, mainly and not surprisingly, because of Tsunade. During their training sessions the Hokage was everything Tenten had always imagined. She smiled as she had to amend herself since at times getting the Hokage motivated to train could prove rather difficult, especially if she was gambling or enjoying a cup of sake. Tsunade didn't overindulge like she used too, but Tenten had learned that they were vices the Hokage had enjoyed even before all the grief and sadness had entered her life. When Tsunade was focused solely on training the Legendary Kunoichi of her dreams came out in spades, and yet Tenten had learned that even then, behind the legend she was just another woman. A woman in love it turned out having watched the Hokage once blush like a school girl when she presented a homemade bento to Naruto. Watching the Hokage gush over the blond had stirred feelings inside of Tenten that she didn't even consider herself capable of. One of them had been a longing to experience the happiness she could see written on her idol's face from the simple act of feeding her lover food from the homemade meal she had prepared.

The black-haired kunoichi reached her apartment and not for the first time found it kind of depressing. She used to feel that way when she had first moved in after joining the shinobi academy. For Tenten it had been a life-altering decision but considering what she had been used to coming home to an empty apartment after school had taken some getting used too. Now she figured it was because of the atmosphere she had just left as the Harem Room had just been so full of vigor and life. Plus the night filled with hot and sweaty sex hadn't hurt either.

Being reminded of her activities Tenten made a straight line for the bathroom since she would be training with her team throughout the day. Pulling the buns loose, she let her hair fall along her back and after stripping, she stared at her reflection. The woman that stared back appeared satisfied if not happy and she wondered what it was that she was searching for. Her mind provided a hint as she remembered how Tsunade had clung lovingly to Naruto through Shiho's retelling of the history found in the scroll. She shook off the vision as she needed to get moving unless she planned to be late and considering how unyouthful her eccentric teammate, who had been left in charge of the training by their equally eccentric teacher, found tardiness. She did not want to find out what crazy punishment he would come up with if she wasn't on time.

* * *

Tenten stepped out of her shower having needed to clean off the filth and grim she had accumulated although through less pleasant activities then what had prompted her morning shower. Toweling off, she looked at her side and frowned at the lack of a bruise having been sure there would be one as a result of a kick she had failed to block from Lee during training. Guessing that maybe he hadn't hit as hard as she had thought.

Leaving the bathroom, she walked naked to her closet and threw it open to look for something to wear. She felt nervous in a way that only the direst of circumstances had ever affected her. A short humorless laugh escaped her as she felt it was a pity that a family dinner was the reason for it. Pulling out a pink shirt with wooden toggles, set in a more formal version of the shirt she had worn as a genin, she laid it on her bed before returning to the bathroom. There she put her hair back up in its usual buns before brushing her teeth and handling some other grooming. When she was finished, she stood back to look at her nude form. Seeing an attractive and beautiful woman she built up her self-esteem for the coming barrage. She quickly got dressed, but before leaving the apartment, she pulled several ryo from her wallet. Stuffing it in a coffee jar atop of her refrigerator, she smiled as she figured a few more missions and she'd have reached her goal. Putting it back, she grabbed up her keys and hoped the night would end quickly.

* * *

Tenten sat at her family's dinner table wondering why it was she hadn't found some reason to avoid coming over. For the past hour, she had listened politely if somewhat disinterestedly as her older brothers and sisters filled their parents' in about the latest going on in their lives. Her dad would grunt at the appropriate places appearing more interested in the food on his plate though. Her mom however was the warmer of the two although to Tenten the woman was often cold to the point that she had been surprised to have been invited to dinner.

The reason for the hostility was due to a decision that Tenten made back when she was four years old. Since that moment she had been considered the black sheep of the family of which she was the tenth of fourteen children. The reason for that was seated around the table as each of Tenten's brothers were either successful businessmen, lawyers, and one was even a doctor. Her sisters though were all housewives and that was the crux of the problem between her parents and her.

Tenten's father was a mid-level bureaucrat, who had risen as far as he could within Konoha's public works office. It was a civilian agency that handled the Village's maintenance such as streets and sanitation. Her father had made a better than average salary which he had funneled into a comfy lifestyle for his family, as well as making sure his sons attended the best schools and colleges. The daughters however, although well treated, were destined for an arranged marriage to a man with connections that her father could parlay into continuing his rise up the ranks of society. His own marriage was how he had gotten his cushy job from his father-in-law, who had also been best friends with his father.

Tenten was eating quietly and secretly pleased with how the dinner was progressing. Usually when she had been invited to these family gatherings she would feel the quiet smoldering anger from her father and brothers for her perceived disrespect for choosing to become a kunoichi. Her sisters would be mirror reflections of the coolness her mother gave off whenever she was around. However her eldest brother surprised her by suddenly asking, "So Tenten, I've heard you have become Tsunade's apprentice."

Caught in mid-chew and not used to being the center of attention, she swallowed heavily and replied, "Y-yes that's true…" Feeling like maybe things had turned a corner with her family she began to say, "It's really been eye opening and…"

"That's great," her businessman brother said friendlily cutting her off in a tone that told her that he could truly care less. "I bet you hear all sorts of interesting things during your training huh?"

Again, she was surprised when her mother spoke up saying, "I thought we discussed about bringing this up over dinner."

"What's going on?" the kunoichi said confused.

"Noth…" her mother began to say.

"I'm merely curious if you've heard anything about a bill going before the Clan Council. The Hokage's been hot to get it through and has faced some opposition."

"This isn't the time or pl…"

"Xiao be silent," Tenten's father said angrily. Her mother lapsed into silence while looking down at her lap, and for the first time ever Tenten saw the woman was considering snapping back at her husband. Her father leveled a hard stare at Tenten and again the kunoichi was four years old telling her father she wanted to be a kunoichi. "What your brother wants to know is if bill TR-one hundred and three going to pass."

Now knowing why she had been treated somewhat warmly Tenten said, "That's why I was invited here tonight? So you could get some inside information?"

"Look at the big picture here," her brother replied hastily, "If that bill passes it'll open up some interesting opportunities. We could make a killing if we know beforehand whether it's going to pass or not."

"I don't know anything," Tenten said tossing her chopsticks onto her plate, "and even if I did, I wouldn't betray her trust by…"

Her father slammed his hand down on the table and pointing at her accusingly said, "So once more you will turn your back on this family. Have you no shame?"

"Me…" Tenten said incredulously. Standing angrily she shouted, "I'm the one that's turned her back on the family?! I'm not the one that forced a four year old to live by herself when she decided to follow her dream."

"Why shouldn't I have?" Her father replied angrily, "Then, like now, you've shown that you have no interest in helping this family."

"How'd I show that huh? By being someone who wasn't willing to just be something you could marry off for some points later on down the road," Tenten fired back.

Her father shot to her feet shouting, "Do not take that tone with me? Look at your sisters. They live good lives and want for nothing."

Tenten did look around at her sisters and could not fault her father's opinion as they were all wearing clothes that would cost her a week's pay based solely on C-ranked mission. The jewelry many of them had on would bump it up to a month's. However undeterred Tenten said, "Perhaps… but it is a life that would have left me wanting. I don't need a man to provide my happiness."

Turning on her heel she left, ignoring him as he called, "Get back here. I'm not done speaking." Yet Tenten didn't slow down as she was done listening.

* * *

She wasn't aware really of where she was going until she came to a stop in front a store she had spent many an hour in, Chan's House of Daggers. Pushing open the front door, it hit a bell signaling to the proprietor that he had a customer. Looking around, she looked through the racks of weapons with only a passing interest. She thought she saw another customer pass by through one of them, and had the feeling the person was trying not to be seen by her. But her curiosity was deflected when a familiar and friendly voice said, "Ah Tenten, it's good to see you."

She smiled warmly as she replied, "It's good to see you two Mr. Chan."

Chuckling, the older man said, "How many times most I tell you? Call me Jackie. Calling me mister makes me feel old." He smiled at her, before asking, "Now what brings you to my shop tonight?"

"Do you think I can use "it" for a while?"

"Of course," he said warmly before turning and tripping over a polearm that someone had put back haphazardly. "Wowaaahhhh," the man said as he began both to catch and prevent being skewered by the weapons that his tripping had set in motion.

Tenten watched in both fascination and horror as the man despite being in his mid-forties nimbly managed to prevent disaster. After placing the last item back in place he said, "Where is that Jade? I told her to straighten up before going home."

Tenten followed shaking her head. She knew he was a skilled warrior, but when she had asked if he was a shinobi he had laughingly said, "Oh no. I have no talent for that, but I was something of an adventurer in my youth. Now I'm just a simple shop keeper."

"Jade still giving you trouble," Tenten said amused following the shop owner as he headed to the back where the register was.

Jackie sighed, "Now I believe I know what my uncle went through. She's seemed to have caught the adventurer's bug."

Having spent quite some time listening to Jackie as he told tales of his past exploits she said, "Well you did sort of encourage you know."

"Don't remind me," Jackie said heading behind the counter, behind which was mounted the three most valuable weapons in the store.

Tenten stared in amazement at the items closest to ceiling saying, "I still can't believe you actually have a pair of katana made by Melk the Sharpener. I thought the Samurai of Iron Country frowned on outsourcing weapons made in their borders."

"Oh they do," Jackie replied pulling a ladder in front of where the weapons were. "However Melk is not officially bound to the Samurai there. They just are his biggest customers. I put that order in twenty years ago when I first inherited the shop from my uncle."

"Still no one is going to be able to afford those swords," Tenten said eyeing the price tag. "Maybe if your shop was located in Kirigakure, you'd find a buyer despite how expensive they are. But Konoha isn't exactly a village known for its swordsmen."

"I actually already have a buyer," Jackie said having climbed the ladder and was reaching for the crescent blade mounted beneath the pair of katana, "I'm surprised you didn't see him. Anyway he should be back soon. He was surprised at the price and needed to get some more money. He also bought some fingerless gloves. The same brand you enjoy so much to be exact." Stepping down from the ladder, he held it out reverently as he said, "The Blue Dragon. It's said to have been the personal weapon of a shinobi by the name of Guan Yu. At least that is what the old man that sold it to me at a yard sale told me. Still whether the claim is true or not, there is no denying its craftsmanship nor that the metal of the blade can be charged with the wielder's chakra making it a very potent weapon. Still I am rather surprised by your interest in it. You always tended to prefer the weapons that one can throw."

Tenten nodded as she took the blade from the shop keep saying, "I've been training in getting in close. I'm trying to broaden my skills."

"A wise decision," Jackie said. Nodding towards the back corner of his shop where people could try some of the various weapons on practice dummies he said, "Please practice to your heart's content."

Tenten bowed her head in thanks and heading towards the center of the practice area began going through various kata while letting her mind wander to the past.

* * *

A four year old Tenten was sleeping in a chair in the lobby of the Hokage Mansion. A warm and gentle voice said, "Tenten…Tenten." Waking, she sat up afraid and disoriented causing the old man that had woken her to say, "It's alright child. But for heaven's sake why are you sleeping here."

Remembering the fight with her father, and recognizing the Hokage, she began crying as she said, "Daddy said I can't be a kunoichi. He said that as long as I lived under his roof, I was living by his rules."

The Hokage nodded sadly before he said, "But what do you want Tenten?"

"Y-you know my name," the she said her crying stopping for a moment due to her surprise, not really having caught on that he had used it to wake her.

"Naturally, I make it a habit to learn all the names of those wishing to become shinobi. You applied yesterday, did you not?"

She nodded her head rapidly causing him to laugh warmly as he recalled, "If I'm not mistaken you hit all the marks for the skill assessment portion. The instructor said he has never seen such natural talent. He says you'd make a natural long-range fighter"

"But I want to be a medic-nin like Lady Tsunade," Tenten said causing the Hokage to smile at her.

"Well you will need to practice quite hard in chakra control," The Hokage said kindly. "But are you sure this is what you want? Your father happened to see me as I was coming here and has already made his displeasure known. Following this path may be a lonely one. Are you sure you wish to travel it?"

Tenten looked down at her toes as she thought over what the Hokage said. Her mind flashed to the wedding of her eldest sister, who had dreamed of being an idol but had given up her dream to marry the son of her father's boss. Although young, she was old enough to understand that due to the nepotism within her dad's public sector job, having a familial connection with his boss would only benefit him in the long run. Not willing to give up her own dreams the young girl nodded once saying, "I'm sure."

The Hokage nodded pleased as he said, "Then let us speak with your father and let him know what you've decided. Perhaps together we can make him understand your passion."

* * *

Tenten continued swinging the blade around moving about gracefully. Her father hadn't understood and had demanded Tenten abandon her desire to become a kunoichi. She had refused and as a result had been kicked out of her home. The Hokage had helped her pack before leading her to an apartment building telling her that until she graduated, she would be allowed to stay there rent free. An old lady that also lived within the building provided the meals for her and the other academy children that chose to live there. Or like her had no alternative.

Ending her recollection, she also ended her kata and became aware that quite some time had passed due to how sweaty she was. Heading to the counter she handed the Blue Dragon over to the owner who asked, "Did it help?"

Tenten nodded, before answering, "It did. Thanks again, I'll definitely be back." She quickly left although she had the feeling that she and Jackie had not been the only two in the shop. Wondering if the other customer had come back without her noticing, which she admitted was totally possible due to her zoning out as she practiced. She wondered who it had been, since she felt it would be a shame if the buyer of the Melk Blades was just a collector of fine swords. Deciding to ask Jackie the next time she stopped by. She headed home to shower and change so that she could get some sleep and put the day behind her.

Upon entering her home she tossed her keys without looking easily hitting the basket she kept them in. She was just about to strip out of her clothes when a knock sounded at her door. Wondering who it could be, she answered it and surprised at who was on the other end said, "M-mom."

"May I come in Tenten?"

The kunoichi considered saying no, but nevertheless stepped aside to let her pass before shutting the door behind her. Her mother looked around the small apartment commenting, "It's rather bare don't you think."

Tenten shrugged walking past her mother saying, "Most of my valuables are sealed in scrolls. Helps keep down on clutter."

"I was talking about the walls," her mom replied, "It doesn't look like a woman lives here."

Tenten huffed annoyed saying, "Did you come here to comment on my lack of interior design skills? Or are you here to plead the case of how my father is right, and I'm a selfish brat because I didn't want to become a bride to one of his cronies."

Her mother looked at her sadly before saying, "Actually I wanted to say. I'm very proud of you." Tenten was shocked since she had always figured her mom had felt similarly as her father. Continuing she said, "I'm sorry I've never told you that before. Unfortunately, I don't have your courage and he is my husband."

"But…"

"Tenten, its okay, that wasn't a complaint. Your father has been very good to me, and although I may not have always agreed with him. It was my duty to support him. That was how I was raised. I've always been a little jealous of how brave you are. I suppose it is a necessity in your profession."

Tenten at a loss for words asked, "Why did you come?"

"I'm not sure really," her mother said heading for the door, "I suppose I just wanted to let you know that. But there is one other thing. You said you don't need a man to make you happy. That may be true, but I think you will find that if you do find one, then your life would be complete in a way you didn't think possible."

Tenten thought of Naruto but still wasn't sure where he stood in her heart at the moment. Her mother reached her door and before she opened it, Tenten asked, "And what about you? Are you happy?"

Her mother paused for a moment before looking back and saying, "Yes, he can be a hard man to love. But I do, and that is why even though it broke my heart to let you go I supported him. To your father everything was dedicated to raising our family's status and through his efforts our children and grandchildren live better lives than we did."

More speaking of her sisters than brothers, Tenten asked, "But are they happy?"

A look of uncertainty appeared on her mother's face but she answered truthfully, "I don't know. I like to believe they are, but I can't answer with any certainty either. What about you? Are you happy?"

"I'm not sure either," she admitted, while wondering why it was she couldn't answer the simple question considering she believed she had achieved most of what she had wanted as a child. Her mother smiled at her with a degree of melancholy before stepping out of Tenten's apartment and life once more.

* * *

"Aw, come on Tsunade that's going too far," Naruto shouted having to avoid a monstrous piece of dirt and gravel the Hokage sent flying towards him. Despite his words though the blond ran towards it, and leaping atop of it ran over the flying boulder to leap towards her. He then created a clone which he tossed at his lover, who in turn easily side stepped it and smashed it into the ground. But the clone had served its purpose as it burst into smoke allowing Naruto to approach without fear of meeting a similar fate. As the smoke cloud cleared, Tsunade was forced backwards by Naruto as he continuously attacked her, hoping to prevent the kunoichi from being able to strike out at him. His strategy worked for the most part until he connected with a kick to her stomach that caused Tsunade to bounce up against a large tree. However, instead of attacking Naruto as he paused to give her a moment. She turned on her heel kicking the base of the tree. Her foot easily shattered the trunk causing it to topple over right onto where he was standing. "That's not right," the blond said before jumping to the side to avoid being driven into the ground like a nail.

Tenten smiled but then looked down at her hand to focus on her training, and the leaf that stubbornly remained whole despite her efforts. Cupping them again, the kunoichi remembered how she had arrived at Training Field S that morning surprised to find Naruto waiting with the Hokage. She had actually been surprised to receive an invitation to meet for some training since Konoha was still abuzz from the chakra wave that had passed through it. Since then almost all of Tsunade's time had been filled with meetings to discuss the event and how best to proceed in the wake of it. But she had learned that a spot had opened in her schedule due to Yakumo's appearing at a Clan Meeting that Danzou had conveyed earlier than it was scheduled, and as a result a bunch of business had been taken care of. Including the passing of the trade bill her family was interested in. Tenten pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind before her anger at her father could distract her.

_She had quickly learned why Naruto was present though when Tsunade had handed her a piece of paper and told her to channel her chakra into it. When it had split in two, the Hokage had smiled pleased as she said, "As I thought, you have a Wind Element to your chakra."_

"_Is that good?" Tenten asked not really sure what the Hokage meant or why Naruto seemed so excited_

_Tsunade nodded saying, "Absolutely, I think you'll find it suits your fighting style quite well, especially now that you want to get in close and mix it up. Naruto, why don't you show her."_

_The jinchuriki nodded pulling a shuriken from his pouch. Holding his free hand out so that his palm was facing up he placed the shuriken on it. Tenten wondered what the blond was doing until it raised up a few inches and began spinning. As it spun, she noticed the shuriken getting covered in a whitish chakra like a thin cloud which obscured it slightly. Pointing his hand towards a boulder, the blond blew on his hand and the shuriken shot away like a bottle rocket. Surprised at the speed, she lost track of it for a moment but reacquired it just as the shuriken smashed into the boulder cutting through it easily. _

_Tenten looked back at Naruto in shock to see him smiling amused at her opened mouth surprise. "Cool huh," he said excitedly, "Asuma has wind chakra too and those knives he carries are even made of a metal that can allow him to channel his chakra through them. Not just coat it like I did for that shuriken."_

_Now more eager than ever to buy the Blue Dragon the pole armed crescent blade she had been saving for she eagerly asked, "How long will it take me to learn to channel my chakra like that?"_

_Tsunade and Naruto shared a look before the Hokage answered, "Most likely a couple of years. It took Naruto months to learn and that was with hundreds of shadow clones helping."_

_Tenten looked a little crestfallen but nevertheless shook it off as Naruto said, "Don't worry Tenten. I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time."_

Tenten opened her cupped hands and saw the leaf she held between them was still maddeningly in one piece. Blowing out a breath in frustration, she turned to see what Naruto and Tsunade were up too. She couldn't help but smile softly as she saw Naruto sitting against a tree with Tsunade's back pressed against his chest. The woman was sipping from a saucer of sake which when it was empty was filled by the blond man both Tsunade and she called lover. The two were surrounded by a destroyed training field, and Tenten knew that part of the reason the Hokage was so rough on it was because she took a perverse pleasure in destroying it ever since the head groundskeeper had complained to her about Naruto's penchant for destruction. The two lovers noticed her staring at them so Naruto shouted, "Hey, why don't you take a break with us?"

"Um…that's okay…" she replied not sure why she felt embarrassed at the scene considering some of the others she had shared with them, "I need to get going. I have a shift watching the main gate in twenty minutes."

She began gathering her equipment and was surprised when a pair of feet began to approach her. Turning she saw Naruto had created a clone as the original was still being used as a cushion by the Hokage who had spun enough to begin kissing him. The clone smiled at her before asking, "Tomorrow, how about you and I go out on a date?"

Again Tenten was struck by surprise at her nervousness but nodded as she said, "Sure that would be great."

The clone smiled brightly causing Tenten's heart to speed up a little due to its exuberance as it replied, "That's awesome, I'll see you tomorrow at seven then."

The clone burst into smoke causing Tenten to look at Naruto to see that the Hokage was snuggled into his chest sleeping contently as the blond held her lovingly. He looked at her giving her a wink which caused her face to redden. Quickly turning on her heel, she ran off wondering why she was acting so strangely with a man that had already seen her naked quite a few times.

* * *

Tenten stared at her reflection and although pleased with how she looked admitted to feeling a little down. That morning Tenten still excited about learning her chakra nature had decided to splurge and buy the Blue Dragon. Unfortunately, when she had arrived at the shop that morning she had learned that not only had the man that bought the Melk Blades come back. He had also bought the Blue Dragon as well. Disappointed, she had returned home and considered telling Naruto that she didn't feel like going out. But in the end she had decided to go through with it.

Running her hands down her frame in order to smooth out the white cheongsam dress, which had a floral pattern around both the midsection and the hem of it, she had chosen for the night. Tenten wondered why it was Naruto had asked her out for the evening. With many of his other lovers being closer to him, she didn't understand why he would choose her. She henged her features to look like the persona that Naruto's lovers had created in order to date him openly and drank the potion that Tsume had created to give her a scent the Inuzuka of the village would attribute to that person. Giving the mirror another glance, she struck a pose and winked at her reflections. Unlike his other lovers, who when they pretended to be the made up woman kept their hair their natural color and in the style they liked Tenten had decided to try something different. As a result, instead of the twin buns, she had put her long hair in an intricate pony-tail that ran down the center of her back.

A red flash appeared in her apartment as Naruto arrived while henged as the male half of the false couple that had been created for him to date. Smiling at her, he approached and kissed her gently on the cheek before asking, "Are you ready?"

She nodded, so he pulled her close and they appeared in the hotel room that Tayuya and Hana had rented when they pretended to be the couple in order to set-up the personas' backstory. Naruto placed an arm around her shoulders and led her from the room towards the restaurant. It was a rather expensive one and Tenten was grateful, but the atmosphere reminded her of the meal at her parents. Not that Naruto didn't try to make it enjoyable, but after placing their orders, he must have sensed her discomfort as he asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Tenten said not wanting to be the rain cloud hanging over the evening. She looked down at her lap for a moment before giving the room a quick sweep.

Naruto must have sensed the reason because when the waiter came back he said, "Can we get these to go?"

The waiter looked surprised since it was obvious that people came to the restaurant to be seen eating there. The idea that people would suddenly leave proved foreign to him. He tried to explain this to the henged Naruto, who replied, "Forget it then. We'll eat somewhere else. I'm not even sure how they could call this a five star restaurant. It didn't even have any ramen."

Tenten giggled at the face the man made as Naruto paid for the untouched meal and grabbed the kunoichi's hand as he led her from the place. The two ended up at Ichiraku where she said, "I'm sorry, you wasted all that money because of me."

Naruto slammed his bowl down as he finished gobbling the contents before saying, "Don't worry about it. Besides I'd always rather have Ayame's ramen then some crappy food that didn't even cover the plate." Ayame smiled at Naruto before moving to help a customer at the opposite end of the bar. The man looked over at Tenten and looking serious asked, "Will you tell me now?"

Sighing, the kunoichi said, "I guess the place just roused some unpleasant memories. It sort of reminded me of my family. I mean the waiter said it himself, people eat there for the reputation of being able to say that they have. It just seems so empty… kind of like your plate was." She added the last part with some humor causing Naruto to laugh.

"Tell me about it," the jinchuriki said, "It looked pretty but if your first thought is where's the rest. You can't call that a meal." He grew serious though asking, "Are you saying, your family was like that… empty."

"No…" the kunoichi said quickly, "Only it was like the meal, they are more concerned with appearance then then the substance. I've always been the black eye of my family because I didn't want to follow the plan. My father's always been concerned with status and therefore felt we should be too. But all I ever wanted to be is a kunoichi, and wasn't willing to give it up to be some trophy wife."

Naruto nodded, "Is that why finding yourself bound to me was so upsetting?"

"Maybe…" Tenten said not exactly sure, but figured it was closer to the truth then not.

Paying for the meal, the henged man held his hand out to Tenten saying, "Come on." Seeing his bright smile lifted her spirits from talking about her family. Grabbing it, she laughed as she was pulled from the stool to follow after the jinchuriki. Their next stop was a bar where Tenten had a great time playing darts and not only beat Naruto, ended up making a few hundred ryo hustling some of the other patrons.

As the night drew to a close Tenten was giggling as Naruto recalled making a side bet with the bartender that she would be able to make a bullseye blindfolded and the look on the man's face when she not only had, but done it six times. Approaching the hotel, she asked, "Naruto… why did you pick me tonight?"

She could tell Naruto wasn't sure how to respond but finally he said, "Tonight's the two month anniversary of when you and I first got together."

Tenten's eyes grew wide and feeling horrible said, "I-i-I forgot…"

"Hey, I'm not upset," quickly calming her. "I mean it wasn't like you were exactly thrilled. I almost considered going with the night you, me, and Tsunade were together. But maybe we can do that next week."

He winked at her causing her to blush at the imagines such an idea put in her head, but still feeling bad said, "Still…"

"Why do you want to feel bad?" Naruto said with a shake of his head. "I'm not upset and besides I spent the first month anniversary feeling sorry for myself and depressed." He pulled her to a side path where they came out near one of Konoha's parks. Sitting her down on a bench, he said, "I was going to give this to you in the hotel room but…well here."

He placed a scroll in her hands and unraveling it she saw a seal like the one she used to store her weapons. Biting her thumb she placed it one the seal and in a puff of smoke the Blue Dragon appeared in her lap. She stared at it in amazement but then looking sad said, "I don't deserve this. I didn't get you anything."

Naruto knelt down in front of her and cupping her face said, "Of course you did Tenten. You gave me it plenty of times tonight."

Confused she asked, "W-what's that."

"Your precious smile," the blond, although at the moment his hair was orange, said. "I just want you to be happy and so long as you can smile at me that is all I need."

Tenten felt as if something had broken in her from the blond's words. But whatever it was, she couldn't say she missed it as her body flushed with warmth and before she knew it she was kissing the man. It was nothing like any of the ones they had shared up to that point, but to her it would always be the most memorable. When it ended, she stared at him and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Should we head back?"

She nodded and sealed the weapon back into the scroll. She clung to his arm feeling like a blushing bride as they turned onto a crowded street and people stared at them. She knew a few of them were looks of confusion as the people no doubt wondered why the red head that her henged persona had been before, was replaced with raven hair. Not to mention her sense of style had obvious changed since Naruto and Tayuya had pretended to be the couple. However even those looks just filled Tenten with pride as she felt like showing off and was presenting the man that she had chosen as hers.

The two walked in silence until Tenten realized that if Naruto had bought the Blue Dragon then he had bought the Melk Blades as well. Curious she asked, "Naruto, you bought those katana as well right? Why?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head saying, "Actually those are also a part of your gift. They were what I originally planned to buy you, but I saw you the other night practicing with that polearm and well you looked so beautiful with it I decided to get it for you. The swords are sealed into that scroll just a little further down."

"I can't accept those. They are too expensive I'll try and re…"

"Don't bother," Naruto said cutting her off, "Sure they were expensive, but it's not like I'm hurting for money. I just used some of the reward I got for killing that asshole from Akatsuki. He had quite the bounty on his head. Not to mention there's the S-ranked pay I got for taking out Shinno and his Sky Country plot. Or saving the Priestess Shion from…"

"I get it, I get it," Tenten said feeling a little jealous at how accomplished her lover was.

Naruto chuckled and Tenten pulled his arm a little closer to her body confident that she could now honestly tell her mother that she was happy with the path she had chosen.

* * *

**Lemon scene scrubbed; blame the man for keeping us Lemon Authors down. Please see AFF or FicWad for full version**

* * *

Tenten awoke in the hotel room feeling both sore and satisfied or as her teacher would say, "Full of Youth." Her eyes still closed, she felt for where Naruto should have been but only felt a cool mattress. Opening her eyes she sighed since she would have liked to start the day right with some hot morning loving, but knew as things were his time was extremely limited some days. She turned to look at the clock on the night stand and her eyes grew wide in surprise at the time. She was about to leap out of bed to head to training since she was extremely late, but stopped upon noticing something else on the table. Picking it up, she felt her heart flutter as it was a rose wrapped around a kunai.

The flower part of the rose was sticking out of the loop of the handle with the stem wrapped around the kunai portion. Falling back in bed, she stared at it and decided to stay put, after all it wasn't everyday a kunoichi decided that she was in love. A month from now she'd be the one planning the anniversary and maybe she'd let Tsunade help.

**Next Chapter: Sakura**

**Author's Note: Well here is the companion story. Basically the chapters will be like this one giving a more in-depth look into Naruto's lovers' minds and circumstances. Not to mention allow me to show situations that don't exactly tie into the main plot. Anyway please let me know what you think. Thanks and until next time, The Lemon Sage**


	2. Sakura

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So if these type of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks.**

**Author's Note: The following events take place during chapter 31 of Eroninja.**

**Eroninja: The Limelight**

**Chapter 2: Sakura **

**A Heart No Longer in Autumn**

Sakura was sitting under a cherry blossom tree during a warm and sunny summer like day. She was naked as was the man whose head was in her lap. The trees were in full bloom cascading the area in brilliant shades of white and pink. Normally the area would be littered with people to take in the sight. Something which registered in the back of her mind, however she pushed it aside to concentrate on the man using her lap as a pillow. She reached down to gently stroke his cheek and smiled as his blue eyes lit up at her touch. She looked up and in the distance saw a man wearing a white shirt that exposed a good deal of his chest. His dark eyes landed on her and she shivered as they focused on her although they didn't seem to pay any particular attention to her lack of dress. Suddenly though the warmth of her lover faded so she looked down to see that a large gaping wound had appeared in his chest. The light in his eyes were gone as he stared up at the sky without seeing anything. "Naruto," she gasped in horror and shock as she reached down to cup his face.

Her gaze was pulled away as she felt the man at the end of the field begin closing with her and the corpse that had been her lover. He rested his hand on the handle of the sword strapped to his back at his hip level. As he approached the trees died around him as the sky grew cloudy as if the summer was giving way to winter. He moved agonizingly slow as he closed the distance between them. Finally he stood over them and Sakura felt as if he was inspecting his handy work. She stared up at him as tears began to leak from her eyes. At the moment all she wanted him to do was finish it and join her lover in death. Yet the man must have sensed as much since he smirked at her in his familiar manner although now it didn't appear nearly as appealing as she had remembered it.

In an act she could only attribute to cruelty, he turned and began to walk away in order to leave her with the pain. In fury and anger she shouted, "Sasu…"

* * *

"Sakura!" A voice shouted causing the pink-haired maiden to shoot up in her bed. She held her hand over her heart and could feel it beating madly. She took a few steadying breaths as it calmed down. She placed the hand down and felt something next to her. Picking it up, she stared at it and felt the last vestiges of her nightmare disappear as the daffodil Naruto must have left for her reminded her it was only a dream.

"Sakura!" the voice of her mother shouted again prompting the kunoichi to leave her bed.

"I'm coming," she shouted back still fully dressed in her full shinobi gear having taken a nap after ending her hospital shift.

Grabbing the pack that she had already prepared, she headed from her room to the kitchen where her mother and father were sitting down to dinner. Her mother, Mebuki, slapped her father's hand as he tried to grab at a piece of meat on the main dish. He chuckled as he shook it earning him a scowl from his wife. Her father's face brightened as his daughter giggled at the scene, "Ah, Sakura come join us."

"Sorry," Sakura said grabbing the piece of meat her father had tried for faster than her mom could react, "I have to get going if I'm going to make it to the main gate in time."

Mebuki huffed as she said, "I still can't understand why they would lead you to the camp in the dead of night."

Kizashi made another play for some food only to receive another whack on his fingers this time with the spoon his wife had planned to serve it with. Sucking on his knuckles, he said, "Come now Mebuki. It's probably practice for something like nighttime maneuvers. Since during a battle all fighting is done during the day. Night is supposed to be the time when allies and reinforcements are generally making their moves."

"I know that," Mebuki replied placing her hands on her hips, "It's just that she worked all day in the hospital and now is going to spend a few weeks playing war in the forest. When is she supposed to find time to find a man and settle down?"

"_I already found the perfect man_," she thought to herself with a grin.

"What are you smirking at?" her mother asked agitated by the look on her daughters face.

"N-nothing," Sakura said quickly backing up to escape her mother's scrutiny. "I have to get going. Don't worry; I'll be sure to visit during the weekend passes we get." Her mother frowned at her, but her father simply waved pleasantly as she left the only home she had ever known.

Out on the street, Sakura wasn't surprised at how empty it was due to the time and the fact that it was already dark. She jogged quickly to her destination letting her feet carry her to it more from past experience than actually paying attention. As she headed to the main gate she tried to understand what it was her dream had been trying to tell her. For a moment Sakura thought of an old saying her mother would tell her which was that a woman's heart was as changeable as the autumn sky. In truth though, she didn't think the dream was some sort of effort by her mind to confuse the matter of to whom it belonged to as it didn't exactly cast Sasuke in a positive light. No, Sakura believed the reason she was thinking of the saying now had to do with the seasons that had been represented in the dream. Namely, summer, autumn, and winter. It was rather obvious to Sakura that Naruto had represented summer in her dream with Sasuke being winter. She felt it rather apparent since she had always felt like a mixture of the two. After all, Naruto was bright and sunny like the season she had attributed to him, while Sasuke was cold and gloomy. She a balance of the two could be either spring or autumn, and much like those seasons she was situated between the two more extreme ones of the year.

Sakura stopped and felt a cold chill pass through her as she briefly wondered if she had experienced a premonition of some sort. She shook it off as foolish, but for some reason couldn't quite escape the chill that had nothing to do with the night air. But pushing past it she started moving again so that she could help Naruto in his endeavor to defeat those trying to pull Suna and Konoha apart.

* * *

Sakura could tell Naruto was bristling as their squad closed in on the objective of their practice mission. Sakura couldn't blame him though since his concerns were falling on deaf ears. The two of them were the only Leaf shinobi that were a part of the exercise on their side and free.

The night before, they had joined up with the likes of Kiba and Shikamaru in meeting at the gate. Ino had been there as well and it was rather apparent to the pink-haired kunoichi that her friend was rather anxious from Naruto's presence. However it alleviated somewhat when he took a spot away from her among the ranks of the assembled Konoha-nin, instead of his using the opportunity his joining the Training Force presented to healing his relationship with her. Asuma had then filled the Leaf shinobi in on what he hoped they would accomplish making a point of telling them that it was likely they would feel pressure from members of both villages to remember the old hatreds between them. However, he encouraged the gathered shinobi to remember that what they had before them was an opportunity to get past those old grievances in order to build a lasting friendship with those they called allies.

It was proving to be rather more difficult than Asuma had made it sound as the current exercise was showing. After arriving in the middle of the night, they had been assigned an area to set up their tents and had been promptly thrown into the mix the next morning. Temari and Asuma had pulled out a sealed envelope which contained a scenario dreamed up by one of the two village leaders. They decided to change things up for the exercise by having members of each village split among the two teams.

Sakura had giggled as Naruto obviously expecting to go in the first round of picks had ended up close to last. Finally, Temari did pick him much to Asuma's chagrin, since it was apparent the two co-leaders of the Training Force had been trying to underplay his skill and power, while at the same time they gobbled up shinobi they thought would best fit into the units they were trying to build. However, the teams did still end up rather unbalanced as Asuma and Temari had gone with people they had worked with in order to win over trying to actually have an even split of members from the other village. Sakura had just been glad she ended up with Naruto and felt it was rather sad that it appeared Ino was just as glad to be on the opposite.

Things had promptly turned against Temari though, when upon opening the envelope they learned the scenario was one in which one force had been decimated by the other while trying to complete an objective. Temari had lost the coin toss to decide whose force would be the destroyed one and so needed to watch as her force had picked wooden sticks marked with a square, a circle, or an X. Those that pulled an X were dismissed from the exercise as killed in action. The circles were considered captured and would be held in a mocked up prison camp while the Squares were considered alive. The Squares' task was to complete the mission despite their weakened force.

Sakura and Naruto were the only two Leaf Shinobi to remain in the alive category, and both doubted there would be much cooperation as Temari ended up in the captured. Their fears became true as the only ranking Jounin that remained was a Suna-nin named Komaza who came complete with a less than stellar opinion of Konoha. Sakura remembered the young man from her first go around in the Chunin Exams. He had been one of the genin to be eliminated for cheating during the first test and had even made a stink about it before being forcibly ejected by one of the proctors. He wasn't one of the Hardliners that followed Joseki, but she figured he was harboring some negative feelings to the village that had held back his rise in the ranks if only temporarily. She figured that was also why he had regulated both Naruto and her to the rare of the squad as they closed in on their target.

"Screw this," Naruto said suddenly coming to a stop on a branch.

Komaza stopped immediately as well to glare at the jinchuriki before saying harshly, "You want to repeat that genin?"

Naruto was about to reply as bluntly as his sudden outburst, but Sakura clamped her hand over his mouth to say, "He was just voicing his disagreement with our current strategy." She gave him a look to remain calm. She felt Naruto relax so trying to get the jounin to see his concern said, "Sir, with all due respect. We think you are seriously underestimating the opposition."

"Now look, I don't know how you do things in the Leaf."

"That's right you don't," Naruto said.

However Komaza spoke over the blond saying, "But in Suna when a superior gives an order he expects it to be followed."

Naruto rubbed his hand through his hair in frustration before countering, "You're completely disregarding what we are saying. You plan to attack the main camp because you believe it's undermanned since you think Asuma has sent out hunter-killer forces to find and engage us."

"We've already been over the plan. Plus what do you call all those tracks of the teams looking for us. Not to mention, we found the path the main force took to protecting supply depot that is our target. We'll attack their main camp throwing them into chaos and to pull their forces back. While they are in disarray we'll hit our target."

"That's what we're trying to tell you," Naruto said frustratedly. "Everything is too neat and tidy for either Asuma or Shikamaru to be calling the shots. We're going to hit their camp and get slaughtered."

"Give me a break. You think you can do better than go on and do it." Komaza turned to the rest of his squad asking, "Anyone else think the genin here is going to lead us to victory. If you do, then feel free to go with him."

Sakura looked around and saw that most of the Sand-nin present were of the same opinion as the jounin. Stepping up to her lover, she said, "Let's go Naruto." But the Sand-nin didn't give them a chance to leave as all of them took off after the Jounin, who had already dismissed the Leaf-nin as useless. Truthfully though, Sakura could think of few things better than being alone with her lover in the woods so was glad with the current situation.

* * *

Sakura snuggled deeper into her lover as she sat back against him so they could share a blanket while hiding in a small cavity at the base of a tree. Naruto's body stiffened due to his clone dispelling which had been following the rest of the squad. When he relaxed she asked, "Well?"

"It's just you and me now."

"And, all the shinobi that are going to target us now."

She could hear the smile in Naruto's voice as he said, "Well them too, I suppose."

"We probably should have headed to the supply depot we needed to take out instead of settling in for the night then."

Naruto rested his chin on her shoulder as he said, "I don't think that would have worked either. I think Asuma split his forces evenly between the three locations that he figured we may have been interested in."

"How? Guarding the prison camp, our target, and his camp coupled with all the patrols looking for us would have forced him to leave something under-defended. Unless…"

"The tracks of the patrols were faked. We never actually saw any other signs of them and just figured we had snuck past the patrols at some point due to the foot prints we found."

Sakura pulled Naruto's arms and by extension the blanket they shared tighter around her as she said, "We have to figure that by now they know that they haven't wiped us out. Plus after a round of interrogations they're probably going to know what our target is for sure."

"Huh, how are they going to be able to interrogate anyone? It's not like they are going to break or anything. They aren't going to get tortured are they?"

Sakura shook her head in amusement as she said, "Didn't you do any of the reading in regards to the rules?"

"That packet was like fifty pages long." Naruto pulled her tighter against him as he said sweetly, "Plus, I knew you'd tell me anything I needed to know."

Sakura turned her head to frown at him, but seeing his blue-eyes staring at her so innocently she sighed as she said, "You never studied. But basically for these games, interrogation is conducted via a dice game. The prisoner gets three and the interrogator gets two. They then roll the dice every fifteen minutes to see who comes up with the highest sum total. If the prisoner's dice add up to be greater than he has successful resisted and doesn't need to answer any questions. But if the interrogator's do, then he gets one of his questions answered. It's skewered in the prisoner's favor since they would be expected to resist, but with enough time and effort eventually people break."

Naruto nodded in agreement and then said, "Taking the supply depot with just the two of us is going to be a pretty tall order." Sakura giggled prompting Naruto to ask, "What's so funny?"

Turning to face him, she said, "I'm just so used to you disregarding the odds, that hearing you admit something is going to be difficult is hard to believe. I half expected you to say, "Don't worry Sakura. The depot won't know what hit it, believe it."

Naruto chuckled at her jest. Shrugging, he said, "Sure that's what I'd be saying if we could go full out tomorrow. But we won't even be able to use any of our really destructive jutsu so we're kind of hampered by that."

Sakura nodded and placed her head against Naruto's chest as she rested her body along his. She sighed contently as he placed one a hand on her hip near her fox mark. "I suppose this situation does favor thinkers like Shikamaru as opposed to us who get by with brute force."

"Hey, we're thinkers too," Naruto said indignantly. But she heard a smile in his voice as he added, "It's just easier to smash things."

Sakura felt herself being lulled to sleep by Naruto's heartbeat, but asked, "So do you have a plan?"

"Right now the plan is, Naruto and Sakura smash." She laughed lightly at his joke after he said, "Admittedly, it could use some more work."

"Admittedly…" she said with a yawn before slipping into slumber.

* * *

Sakura was in the basement of Konoha hospital. Her heart was heavy as she walked the familiar halls before coming to the morgue. Stepping inside the room she saw Tsunade standing in front of one of the freezer units where the bodies were stored. The older woman turned to her with eyes that showed the indescribable sadness that she was feeling. Yet, Sakura didn't need a description as she was feeling the same thing due to what had brought them both to that spot.

"N-no," she said weakly.

Tsunade broke down crying as she sunk to the floor and wrapped her arms around her shoulders as if to keep warm. With the Hokage no longer blocking the freezer she had been standing in front of Sakura could read the name of the person whose corpse resided inside, "Naruto Uzumaki." With her worse fears confirmed, she felt the warmth that had been a part of her life ever since becoming one of his lovers leave her.

Her strength left her as well and she only remained on her feet due to an autopsy table that she leaned against. Tsunade paused in her sobbing only long enough to inform her, "They say it was Sasuke."

* * *

Sakura shot awake to find a part of the reason she felt so chilled was she was no longer resting against Naruto. She panicked for a moment, fearing that her dream had been a memory and that she was living in a world where the man she loved was gone. She quickly crawled from the lair they had used to sleep and immediately calmed upon seeing him standing next to a simmering fire. Her thoughts went from concerned to a more perverted nature as he was wearing only his boxers, which were dripping wet as he watched a pair of fish cooking. Spotting her, he gave her a bright smile as he said, "Morning sleepyhead."

Sakura shook off her lustful thoughts before joining him by the fire as she said, "Morning. Why the show with breakfast, we had rations we could eat?"

Naruto realized she was referring to his state of dress so chuckled and replied, "Is someone finding it hard to concentrate due to how little I'm wearing?"

Sakura blushed, but countered, "No…I just was wondering if you look for any excuse to strip out of your clothes."

Naruto laughed as he said, "Sometimes, but today it's so we could have a good meal. I thought up a plan last night and you're going to need your strength, especially for later tonight after it works and we celebrate."

Sakura blushed as she imagined how they would be celebrating. But focusing on the task they would need to complete first said, "Tell me more?"

* * *

Sakura still had trouble shaking the chill her dream had left her with. The only reason she felt it had faded to any extent was because she was being warmed up through her clinging to Naruto's back as they traveled through the woods. It was a slow going process since they were traveling along the forest floor in part due to their need to avoid the few enemy patrols moving around them. Already the two had needed to avoid several patrols. But, luckily for them. Their enemies expected them to be moving through the trees or running along the forest quickly. Not slowly trudging along while trying to leave no hint behind as to where they were going.

Sakura was pretty sure she was close to chakra exhaustion and simply had to marvel at Naruto's strength since she had only made a single clone with the jutsu Naruto had been using from the time he was a genin. That he could make a hundred and still effortlessly carry her was an impressive feat.

With Naruto doing the driving as it were, it had left Sakura with time to come up with a way to broach the subject she figured her dreams were demanding her too. Still after nearly an hour she was no closer to finding a way to bring it up gently so blurted, "I want you to give up on Sasuke."

Naruto came to a stop. To Sakura the background noise of the forest was deafening as she waited for him to say something. Finally after an eternity he said, "I can't."

"Why," Sakura said angrily, "If it's because of that stupid promise I made you give me then I recall my request. Kiyomi's told me just how hard you fought to keep it and what it nearly cost. Don't you understand if it wasn't for her you would be dead?" Sakura's eyes began to fill with tears and she rubbed her face against his back before tightening her grip on his jacket as she added, "It would have been my fault."

She sobbed lightly against him until Naruto said, "Sakura, no it wouldn't have been. Do you remember the day of team assignments?"

Sakura had an idea of what he was going to bring up so said, "I remember you pretended to be Sasuke to find out what I thought of you." Naruto looked over his shoulder in surprise prompting her to admit, "I only recently realized that. But what does that have to do with…"

"It was the day that I finally understood why I cared for you so much. But I also think I came to understand that I could never make you love me. Therefore, when you asked me to bring him back although it did hurt… I had no problem promising you that I would because your being happy was all that mattered."

"Naruto…"

"But, it also sort of worked out that it made me look selfless because truthfully I would have done it even if you hadn't of asked. He was my friend as well, and I didn't want to lose the bond we shared."

"Bond," Sakura said heatedly, "He put a Chidori through your chest and tried to break your neck. Also, why didn't you ever tell anyone what happened between you two."

Naruto began walking again causing Sakura to fear he was going to try and drop the matter. But after a minute he said, "At the time… it was because I wanted everything to go back to how they were before. If I had told everyone that Sasuke had tried to kill me… well… that probably wasn't going to happen. I still thought that all I would need to do was drag him back. After pounding some sense into him and Team Seven would be reunited."

"But you understand that isn't possible anymore, right? Sasuke isn't who we remember. So, just give up on him."

"I can't Sakura. Now, more than ever."

"Why," she said angrily no longer caring about the game or if she was heard. "He's already given up on you. I'm afraid that if you fight him again…" She paused until Naruto looked back at her causing her to say in a weak voice, "That I'll lose you."

"And that's why I can't give up Sakura, because I know exactly how you are feeling. But, the thing is I know exactly what Sasuke is feeling as well."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the day everyone passed the exam to graduate from the academy?" Sakura nodded so Naruto said, "You looked so happy as your parents congratulated you. Your parents looked so proud and you laughed at something your father had said. Although you probably didn't even know I was there that laugh almost sounded mocking to me." Sakura figured that he must have felt her tense to say that she didn't mean any harm, but he beat her to the punch as he said, "Don't worry, I wasn't implying that you were. I was just saying that was how it felt… to be me. Watching everyone laugh and beam as their parents showed how proud they were. It was like everyone else's joy was just to show what I lacked. To make a mockery of my existence."

"Naruto…."

"Now I understand though that Sasuke must have felt the same thing that day. That the sounds of everyone's laughter must have cut him as deeply as it did me. To be honest Sasuke and I have walked the same path, and that's why I know how you feel also. I know how you feel because I'm afraid I could lose you or any of my precious family. Sasuke has chosen to follow a dark path, but it was a path that was open to me as well. If I hadn't come to value the bonds that I formed or you and the others hadn't come to accept me, then I would be just like Sasuke is now. But just because I chose not to follow the same path doesn't mean I don't know what I would be capable of if I did."

Sakura felt chilled again despite the warmth coming from Naruto as she asked, "You believe he's not just going to disappear now that he's killed his brother."

Naruto shook his head sadly as he answered, "No, there is literally nowhere he can go to escape reminders of what he has lost. His very memories of his life before Itachi killed his clan are probably almost mocking to him now. To be honest, the one thing I think that did save me before you and the others was that I had no memories of a happy home life. It is one thing to know such a thing is missing, but it's quite another to have it ripped from you. That's why whether or not he learns the truth about the Uchiha massacre. It almost doesn't matter."

"Why?"

Naruto looked at her over his shoulder and she could see the concern he felt about what lay in store for him and Sasuke. But his voice was strong and determined as he said, "When all the laughter you hear sounds like it is mocking you. All you want to do is silence it, and if that is the path Sasuke takes then all I can do as his friend is face him head on when he directs his hatred at those I care about."

Sakura placed a hand over his back where Kiyomi had told her that the Chidori had pierced his body. Still fearing what a confrontation between the teammates would bring she said, "Just remember that there are those of us that you need to return to."

"Don't worry Sakura," Naruto said confidently, "If Sasuke does one day direct his anger at Konoha then I won't hold anything back. It's the least I can do for him as a friend."

"_It's not you not holding back that worries me_," she thought but kept her further worries to herself.

Not because she wanted to let the matter drop, but because a voice called out, "Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, we have you surrounded. How about you two just quit so we can all go back to camp for a hot meal?"

Sakura couldn't help but smile as Naruto said, "Sorry, but I don't know the meaning of the word quit."

"He isn't joking," Sakura quipped, "If you don't want any trouble you might want to explain it to him."

"Sakura, that's not funny," Naruto said, but his tone was amused especially as it looked like one of the Suna-nin was about to actually give him the definition. He quickly created a clone that grabbed her and took off running as Naruto leapt to the trees to attack the patrol.

* * *

Sakura felt great as she watched the opposition's supply depot. Looking behind her, she took in the hundred or so copies of her lover. Looking back, she leapt confident that the clones were right behind her. Landing at the entrance, she slammed her fist in the surprised guard's stomach and although normally that would mean the shinobi would probably no longer be in the same country. This time he just grunted before lying on the ground with a paint mark of her fist on his stomach signaling he was dead. Sakura next hit the wooden fence blowing it off its hinges although not as far as she could so no one was hurt by it.

The clones quickly swarmed in going around her while attacking the reacting defenders with blunted kunai and shuriken. A few though suddenly stopped as they were hit with paint from exploding tags that had been planted on the ground. Recognizing that meant they were dead, they dispelled themselves as more charged forward to take their place. Sakura spotted Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino coming out of what she suspected was the commander's tent. She heard Shikamaru say, "Looks like you were wrong Ino. I told you that Naruto would try and take out the target by himself."

He dropped down to a knee to catch several clones by their shadow and when he did Sakura struck using one as a springboard to launch herself at Shikamaru. However, he was pushed to the side by Chouji who took the punch in his friends place. The sudden jolt to his stance also caused him to lose control of his jutsu allowing the clones to move in to attack him. Before Sakura could join them though, she was forced to deal with Ino as she tried to land a kick to her face.

Sakura ducked it though before swinging at the kunoichi, but Ino gracefully leapt away as she back flipped several times before landing and assuming a fighting stance. Sakura ran up to her friend and seeing they were alone said, "That's not fair Ino using your mark to spy on us."

"I wasn't cheating forehead," the blonde replied annoyed, "I've purposefully not tried to sense his location. It's just obvious that Naruto's real goal is going to be to free all the prisoners."

"Obvious to you maybe," Sakura said with a smirk.

Ino didn't rise to the bait instead asking, "Why is he here?"

Aware that Ino had stopped appearing at the gatherings the other Harem members held now that Naruto had recaptured his mojo she said, "He's here to try and stop Joseki's men from spreading their hatred among the ranks. Why? Were you hoping he's here to convince you to come back to him?"

"N-no," Ino said quickly although Sakura did detect a little wavering in her friend's voice.

Although she didn't take it to mean she had guessed Ino's intentions, she did figure the thought had occurred to her. "You need to stop lying to yourself Ino. You know where you want to be."

"And what good will that be if he recklessly spends his life," Ino yelled ending the discussion by charging her friend.

When Ino got within striking distance, Sakura threw a punch but the blonde slid beneath it. She spun to sweep at the pink-haired girl's legs. But Sakura leap forward into a roll that ended with her crouching. She spun around in time to catch Ino's foot with both of her hands. She pushed the blonde back, but Ino simply allowed herself to fall backwards into a backflip that had her back on her feet. Sakura sighed as she felt her energy being used up. Getting back to her feet, she could really see the fruits of Ino's training since Naruto had taken her as a lover.

Sakura thought back to when Ino had first decided to follow her into Medical-ninjutsu. She had stuck with a rigorous training regime that Tsunade had laid out. But she had for only around a month before she would give excuses such as her needing to attend her family's shop. Sakura had suspected it was because of how hard the training had been, but also because it had become apparent that Ino wouldn't measure up to her, at least not without twice as much effort. Sakura also had thought about giving up at times. But every time she had, she would think of Naruto as he was bandaged in a hospital bed and telling her that he would get stronger to bring back who he thought would make her happy. Sakura supposed that when Ino had begun to show up to the more advanced medical classes after Naruto's return to the village, she should have suspected something. It hadn't been that Ino had suddenly become more focused, she had just tapped into the same source of inspiration that Sakura had.

Sakura charged forward to connect with a jab, but Ino bent backwards to avoid it. She then reached up to grab Sakura's wrist and then using it for leverage brought her legs up, wrapping them around Sakura's head. Due to Ino's weight, Sakura fell to her knees as the Yamanaka kept her arm straight. "Not bad Ino-pig," Sakura said getting Ino back for calling her by her old nickname.

"Thanks, and for the record I'm here because Asuma-sensei asked me."

Sakura smiled and replied, "You could have said no, especially since you knew it was a place he would likely show up," and then burst into smoke.

* * *

Sakura held a piece of paper in her hand as she followed the crudely drawn map Naruto had handed her after the exercise. She smiled as she remembered the look on some of the Suna-nin's faces as they had hit the prison camp. After regrouping upon taking out the defenders, Temari had said, "Took you two long enough. Did you stop to smell the roses or something?"

Before either of them could respond Komaza who had been taken captive stepped forward asking, "I don't get it. If you could handle this camp by yourselves why bother rescuing us?"

Naruto answered saying, "We're supposed to act how we would out in the real world, right? No way I'd leave my friends behind and truthfully we sent a bunch of clones against the supply depot but were repelled. Besides now with all of us working together taking our target out will be a snap."

It hadn't gone as easy as Naruto promised, but in the end they did win. It was after she had taken a shower that Naruto had appeared by her tent handing her the piece of paper she now held. He told her to meet him at the location it marked before telling her that he was going to get some ramen and clean up before joining her. Figuring they were going to enjoy their own celebration for the days victory she felt her body grow a little hot as she let her imagination go wild. She put the daydream on hold as she stepped out of the forest to see the ruins of a building. It looked like it had collapsed at some point and from the signs that she could see not due to old age.

Looking at the back of the map she saw the instructions Naruto had written there which read, "Step into the circle."

Confused, she walked around the building spotting more evidence that it had been brought down by exploding tags. Wondering how Naruto even knew of the place she recalled the incident just after Sasuke defected where Mizuki had escaped from prison. Guessing that made the building the old Chunin Instructor Proving Grounds where Mizuki had tried to kill Iruka, she said, "Not exactly a romantic sight you've chosen for a hook-up Naruto."

Still that didn't stop her from looking for the circle she was supposed to find. Finding it towards the back of the ruined building, she wondered what it was her lover was up to. Stepping into the circle which was large enough for her to lay down in. She was shocked as the insides of it were suddenly filled with symbols. A cone of light rose around the perimeter of circle which tapered off around ten feet in the air. Outside the light, the world took on an otherworldly appearance. Figuring that she had activated a barrier of some kind, she reached her hand out and found that she could reach out of it, and as she did so the outside world, which had sounded muted before, suddenly became louder. Smiling at her lover's foresight, she suddenly sensed his presence behind her but when she spun around to kiss him found that he wasn't there. Confused, she focused on her fox mark and confirmed that he was right by her.

She was about to call out to him when she felt a feather like pat to her butt like someone was pressing the back of their hand against it. She closed her eyes and could smell her man's scent so guessing he was playing some sort of game decided to let him have his fun. The pressing became more insistent until it became full on groping causing Sakura to shift a little as her butt was fondled. She leaned back into something solid which caused her to open her eyes, but still she couldn't see Naruto. Closing them again she decided to just enjoy feeling for a time.

**Lemon scene scrubbed; blame the man for keeping us Lemon Authors down. Please see AFF or FicWad for full version**

Sakura screamed in ecstasy which turned into one of horror as she was pulled up to enjoy a kiss, but instead of Naruto's handsome face, it looked like it should have belonged to a ghost due to how bruised it was.

"Sakura it's me," he said as she tried to pull away.

Calming as she took in his injuries even though he had obviously cleaned them up for the most part, she said, "W-what happened?"

"Just a minor disagreement," Naruto said as she reached up to begin healing them.

Sakura's voice got low and dangerous as she asked, "With whom?"

Naruto reached up to cover the hand she had over his cheek as he answered, "I'd tell you. But something tells me that you might punch him, and considering just how hard you can hit it would make my taking these bruises meaningless."

Sakura lapsed into silence as she healed his face but finally said, "You know you're doing stupid and reckless things like this is what worries me… and is what has driven Ino away."

Naruto sighed saying, "I know. But hitting him back would have just validated his anger at Konoha. The truth is I would consider it a good thing if all our problems could be solved so easily."

Sakura nodded, but said, "Well don't make getting hit in the face a common solution. Some of us have grown rather attached to it." She leaned forward and kissed him now that it didn't look like doing so would hurt him. Once it ended she leaned her head against his chest and squeezed her thighs together to keep from losing anymore of his seed. He began gently stroking her hair as they stood holding each other. Curious about why the unique hook-up she asked, "Was what happened to your face why you decided to go the invisible man route?"

"No, Jiraiya sent me a scroll containing that jutsu and said he thought I'd come up with a use for it. I figured I could start a rumor about a perverted ghost that haunts this area. I think I'll call my jutsu the Invisible Touch."

Sakura looked up with a disbelieving stare as she asked, "Do you really think something like that would work?"

"Sure," he replied with a chuckle, "Haven't you ever looked into a mirror and called out some boogeyman's name expecting it to show up."

"Sure as a kid during sleepovers."

"Well the principle's the same just the ghost has more grown up tastes. At the very least it might attract someone who's very lonely."

Now having an idea of who Naruto was targeting she said, "Ah, you want her to come to you. But why practice on me first?"

Naruto chuckled as he responded, "Because my Sakura can be a bit of a pervert."

"No I'm not."

Naruto laughed as he said, "Well then let's see if I'm wrong. But when you want some more you know where to find me."

He disappeared in a red flash and Sakura looked down to where her shorts lay on the ground. Figuring that Naruto had tied some sort of alerting seal into the privacy barrier he had drawn on the ground. She stepped out and watched as it deactivated before stepping back in. He reappeared with a huge smile as he said, "That was fast."

"Oh shut up." She replied before dropping to her knees to suck some life back into Naruto's pleasure wand.

* * *

Sakura dropped to the forest floor before entering the clearing of the Training Force Camp. She leaned against a tree as she rubbed her stomach still able to feel the warmth Naruto had deposited there through both sets of lips Entering the camp proper, she spotted the bonfires that the shinobi gathered around as they talked during the night. She imagined she was walking with quite a bit of sway in her hips but found she couldn't help it due to how great she felt.

Coming to a fire around which sat Temari, Matsuri, Ino, and as well as a few other kunoichi from Suna she took a seat unable to erase the smile from her face. "Where've you been," Temari asked having blown off some steam after witnessing the altercation that had left Naruto's face bruised.

"Looking into a story I heard," Sakura replied causing the women that knew she had been with Naruto to arch an eyebrow.

"Really, what kind is it a ghost story. We were just telling a few although none of them were really scary."

"Yukata, here has a love of such things," Temari said indicating the long-haired brown eyed girl she was sitting next too.

"Really," Sakura said with a smile as she looked out the corner of her eye at the Green-haired Suna-nin the story she was about to tell was meant for. "I'm afraid this ghost story isn't scary as it centers on a man who was quite perverted. Knowing he was dying, he created a seal that trapped his soul in a place between this world and the next in hopes that curious young women would find it so he could show them pleasures unimagined. The first such woman was a beautiful maiden who stumbled on it while…"

Sakura continued with her story throwing in details from her recent time with Naruto. As she watched some of the women present squirm in their seats she admitted to herself, "_Okay I'm a pervert. But if you can't be a pervert with the man you love, then who can you be one with_?" Although Sakura still feared what a future confrontation with Sasuke would bring. She vowed that she would be there and if it appeared Naruto was hesitant to deal with him then she would. As she wasn't willing to give up the summer days her time with Naruto felt like in order to be cast into a winter of Sasuke's selfish design.

**Next Chapter: Ayame**


	3. Ayame

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So if these type of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks. Furthermore I'm not making any money from this story.**

**Eroninja: The Limelight **

**Chapter 3: Ayame**

**First Steps on a New Path**

**This chapter takes place over the course of Chapter 33 of Eroninja**

Ayame was humming to herself as she stirred a pot of broth that she was preparing for the nighttime crowd. She had just survived another onslaught of customers that the early afternoon generally brought to her shop as people stopped by in order to pick up or eat their lunches there. The lull she was currently enjoying was when she would eat her own lunch as well as prepare for the nighttime crowds yet to come. It was also the period of time when her fellow shopkeepers would take their lunches as well. One of whom was currently sitting at her stands bar eating a bowl of Ramen, but Ayame suspected the women's true reason for visiting was to learn some of the juicy gossip that she believed the ramen waitress was privy to. Particularly since she was one of the principal players in the rumors going around town due to whom she was lucky enough to call her boyfriend.

Her fellow shopkeeper was at least slick enough not to lead off with questions about Ayame's love life as she said nonchalantly, "My the village sure is bustling with activity, isn't it?"

Ayame nodded as she replied, "It's easy to understand why, what with Suna capturing that Kumo-Nin who was attempting to poison the goods stored at the Food Inspection Facility. I'm sure it's going to be lively around here for the immediate future."

Emi leaned forward over the bar conspiratorially as she said, "I heard that the kunoichi that was captured is a jinchuriki. What's more, rumor has it that the Hokage is going to Kumogakure herself."

Ayame didn't do anything so avert as shake her head, but she was always amazed at how the network of shopkeepers almost always seemed to be in the know. She suspected that it was fortunate that for the most part the things the women and even men who participated in the gossip mill tended to want to know about the more innocuous things, such as who was sleeping with whom. Emi proved to be no different as she pivoted from the topic of village security to Ayame's love life as she asked while stirring the contents of her bowl and as she rested her head on her hand, "Speaking of jinchuriki how is the one you've landed for yourself?"

"Please don't use that term so freely."

"I didn't mean to offend you," the raven haired beauty said quickly hoping to limit any damage she may have done.

Ayame inclined her head to the woman showing that she understood, but replied, "I know. The truth is that it is a term that to Naruto doesn't really have any negative connotations. But, considering that for so long it was one used as justification for how the village treated him. I just don't like it being thrown around so nonchalantly."

Emi nodded in understanding, but then with an amused smile she asked, "How about lover boy? Do you mind if I call him that?"

"Oh not this again," Ayame said her tone somewhere between amused and annoyed. "I already told you there is nothing to tell."

Emi pouted as she said, "Aw, don't be so stingy. I've told you about all my past sexual adventures. You can't tell me you haven't sampled the goods."

Ayame turned away from the tailor since she felt her cheeks begin to color as some of her own past sexual adventures began to flash before her and so busied herself by cutting some ingredients. While she knew Emi to be somewhat sexually outgoing, she knew the woman would be positively scandalized if she learned just how active Ayame had become since becoming a member of Naruto's harem. Regaining her composure, Ayame said, "I don't know if it's fair you trying to leverage what you told me in the past as a way to get me to open up on what I may or may not have done with Naruto. I never really asked you to share after all."

Emi conceded the point, but not one to give up said, "Well, you can't tell me nothing happened that first night, you two shared a hotel room. Ami said she saw the two of you head up to the suite he rented arm in arm. She wasn't working the desk in the morning, but she said you both stayed the night and the room only had one bed. Is that how you got ahead of your competition?"

Ayame stopped her cutting of the ingredients and sighed before turning to face Emi. Finally after a handful seconds she said, "Let's just say that what happened that night is what started me on the path to becoming his girlfriend. Before you start spreading rumors, do try to remember that Naruto was trying to ease the pain of my learning what a scumbag my previous boyfriend was."

"That was pretty sweet of him," Emi admitted. Leaning forward again over the bar the woman said in a hushed whisper, "You know if you're ever looking for a third party to help spice up your relationship all you need to do is ask."

Ayame had a hard time not laughing due to just how much spice her relationship had, but hoping to turn the subject said, "My that's quite a reversal. Weren't you just propositioning me a few weeks ago to join you and your boyfriend? Whatever happened to that?"

Emi gave a small smile as she said, "It seems you are interested in my sex life after all." Ayame's cheeks began to color as she tried to sputter a denial. But Emi laughed as she said, "I'm just messing with you. I did open the door after all. Let's just say it was a good time had by all, but to be honest even though he was a great guy willing to try just about anything once. He just didn't have that spark I've been looking for."

"What spark is that?" Ayame asked genuinely interested since not only had Emi's boyfriend let her bring another girl into the relationship, which naturally worked out in the guy's favor, but he had been willing to try a few other things in order to keep up with Emi's ever evolving sexual tastes.

To Ayame's surprise Emi's cheeks began to turn red as she looked away for a moment in order to compose herself. Ayame was about to tell her she didn't need to share, but Emi finally said, "You know I had a small adventure with your boyfriend once right? I'm not really sure what happened, but from what the old perv told me I was put in something called a genjutsu. I remember bits and pieces but it was like somebody had taken control of my body. You might think it's crazy, but I want to experience that loss of control again."

Ayame thinking about some of the crazy thing she had done since becoming a part of Naruto's love life said sincerely, "I don't think that's crazy at all. But I'm guessing he did."

Emi sighed and then nodded as she said, "Yeah, I asked him to tie me up one night and before you knew it he was saying he didn't even know me anymore. But that's life. On a more serious note though, you have to be pretty worried."

Surprised at the sudden change of topic Ayame asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Well it's only a rumor at this point, but I heard the Hokage is taking Naruto with her to Kumogakure. Considering what happened the last time a Senju stepped foot in the Land of Lightning you might want to consider trying to convince him to call in sick."

Ayame frowned as she hadn't even considered the danger involved in his upcoming trip with Tsunade. But before she could give voice to a halfhearted reply that Emi was worrying over nothing. The dark-haired young woman paid for her meal and took off with a quick goodbye, leaving Ayame with a sense of dread that hadn't been there when she woke up that morning. Hoping that her fears would dissipate by the time she had to close up shop she busied herself with work and tried to think about what she would wear for her date that night.

* * *

Ayame walked beside her lover while holding onto his arm as they moved through Konoha. She noticed quite a few looks directed their way and was pleased to see that the vast majority of them were approving. She had long been aware of the fact that the village's opinion of Naruto had steadily been improving even before he left on his three-year training trip with Jiraiya. Not that she would have cared if they hadn't, but she was just glad that it appeared Naruto was finally getting the respect he had long desired.

Approaching the end of their date, Ayame was tempted to ask Naruto to once more take her to the hotel where they had first become one. However, aware that word would likely reach Emi's ears before too long she discarded that idea. Not to mention that as the night had progressed, her fears about what could happen on Naruto's trip to Kumogakure had begun to grow stronger making thoughts of a night of lovemaking difficult to hold onto.

Although she thought that she had kept her worries suppressed. That turned out not to be the case as Naruto asked, "Are you going to tell me what it's been eating at you all night, or are you going to make me guess?"

Ayame looked up in surprise to see him looking at her worriedly. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but couldn't keep up the pretense. She ended up looking away from his face to take in the path before them as she said, "I know it's silly, but something Emi said today has really been eating at me. She basically brought up how every time a Senju has stepped foot in Lightning Country things never go as planned." She expected a quick reassurance from Naruto that she was being silly. Yet when that didn't come she looked back at him to see that he was staring straight ahead and that his brow was wrinkled in thought. Really wishing he would just tell her everything would be all right she asked, "Don't tell me you're worried too? I wouldn't really mind if you would tell me that I'm being silly right now."

"I wish I could," Naruto said turning his gaze to face her. "But, today Tsunade and Koharu basically told me all about how the Second Hokage's quest for peace with Kumogakure ended up costing him his life." She could tell that he wanted to reassure her and he attempted to give her some peace of mind by adding, "Not that I don't think that between Tsunade and I, we wouldn't be able to handle anything those hoping history repeats itself could throw at us. But at the same time it would be foolish to not be a little worried."

Ayame found it strange that although Naruto was basically telling her there was plenty for her to be concerned about, his words ended up having the calming effect she was looking for. Staring at his face and although he had only grown a little taller than her, she found herself thinking, "When did he become so tall?" She rested her head on his shoulder as they continued on their journey to her home and while her fears hadn't completely disappeared. She did find that due to the maturity Naruto was showing in recognizing the potential dangers to come she wasn't as fearful as she would've been if he had just given her a talk filled with platitudes about how she didn't need to worry.

The ramen waitress felt a smile tug at her lips as Naruto said, "I know I just ate, but I could really go for some ramen."

"Is that a not-so-subtle hint for me to invite you into my apartment?"

"Maybe," Naruto admitted, "I've never actually been inside of it you know."

"I do," Ayame replied lifting her head from his shoulder with a teasing smile. "But that's because I doubt eating my ramen would be the only thing you got into. I know my dad is still out of the village, but knowing he could be back without warning tends to mean that I can't relax with you at home."

"Why?" Naruto asked confused, "Haven't you told him about us yet?"

"Of course I did," she replied quickly. "I just haven't told all about us. If you get what I mean?" When Naruto nodded she added, "I also don't want him coming home to find out just how far you and I have already gone." Naruto nodded as he shivered slightly causing Ayame to suspect his imagination was painting a picture of how her father would react if he came home to find him rutting away atop of her. "Besides," she said her voice taking on a throaty quality, "I want you to go home and get plenty of rest because I want you to focus on making it back home safely and the reward you'd get from me when you do."

Reaching her apartment Naruto spun her towards him and kissed her greedily. He pressed her up against her apartment door causing her to almost relent and invite him inside to let the kiss progress to its natural end. But he concluded it before she did and with a playful smirk he said, "There, now I don't think I'll be the only one eagerly anticipating my return to the village."

Ayame nodded and unlocked her door before giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "I love you. Come back to me in one piece."

"As you wish, my Ayame," her lover replied making her feel as if she was a princess. She slipped inside her apartment before the hunger she felt for her man drove her to invite him into her bed. She rested against the door as she felt through her Fox Mark his presence retreating, and not for the first time wished she had pursued a different path in life. One that would have allowed her to accompany him on his journey, and to be there to help defend him from those who would come for his life like most of his other lovers.

* * *

Ayame sat in the darkness of her apartment. She was sitting on her bed with her knees pressed against her chest and her arms wrapped around them. In her hands was clutched a knife from her kitchen as she stared at her bedroom door as if the monster that had nearly raped her was still a part of this world. She still could not believe that Toshio, her former boyfriend, had attempted to rape her or that if not for Kiyomi she would have been the reason that Naruto's mission in Kumogakure could have soured. Although she had tried to not call out for help using her mark, since she was aware Naruto would have used the Hiraishin to teleport to her location. After Kiyomi had appeared to deal with her attacker she had been able to feel Naruto's concern for her as well as Tsunade's. She could only imagine how the shinobi of Kumogakure would have responded had Naruto suddenly disappeared right before them.

Once Kiyomi had finished transforming her former boyfriend's body into a vessel for the chakra being she had created to weaken Naruto's determination to contain her, the Bijuu had invited Ayame to stay with her. Although she had been tempted to accept, the truth was the incident had only brought back the feelings of inadequacy she had as one of Naruto's lovers. She looked at the knife in her hand and scoffed since she knew that before anyone could harm her; either Kiyomi or Naruto would appear to defend her.

She placed the weapon down on her nightstand as she began to feel overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy. These feelings stemmed from the fact that while she knew she wasn't the only civilian Naruto had as a lover. Her own contributions to his ambition and life appeared to be negligible. After all, even Tsunami had a more active role in his ambition then her as she was leading the rebuild of the hotel that Karin had purchased with her help. Also, Koyuki was currently undergoing training from Fubuki to become a shinobi. The Spring Country Princess had decided that she wanted to take a more active role in helping Naruto's ambition along. To that end she had recruited her bodyguard/lover to train her all the while keeping it a secret from Naruto.

Ayame had been surprised to learn such a thing was possible when Koyuki had told all the women what she was up to during a meeting of Naruto's lovers while the blond man had been keeping his distance from them due to the chakra entity Kiyomi had set loose within him. She had always been of the mind that one needed to train in their youth in order to become a shinobi. But she had been informed that part of the reason Koyuki could pursue the path of a shinobi was because her father had taught her exercises in her youth to calm her, but also were of the type used to channel and focus chakra in new Academy students. Koyuki had often used them to prepare herself before performing scenes during her acting career so her chakra coils had never atrophied.

With all the information of the dangers that they faced that she was privy to as a member of Naruto's harem, she felt so small from the fact that her only contribution was that she cooked his favorite meal. Even the few times she had gathered her fellow shopkeepers to attend to the shinobi of the Training Force didn't make her feel as if she had contributed anything meaningful. She sighed since with her thoughts taking such a dark turn, even her position as Naruto's official girlfriend felt more like a gift given out of pity then because she had earned it. She knew that everything she was feeling was of her own making, but knowing that she in the end she would always be the one waiting for the others to return couldn't help the way she felt.

A red flash blinded her for a moment but knowing what it signified caused her to leap from the bed into the warm embrace of Naruto. Her lover squeezed her tightly saying, "I'm so sorry I took so long to…"

"Shh, you don't need to apologize," Ayame said reassuringly. "Kiyomi handled it. Toshio won't be bothering anyone ever again."

"Still, I should have left a clone or something to watch over…."

While she knew Naruto was feeling guilty about what had almost happened and at his inability to act due to his being in Kumogakure and surrounded by the Raikage's shinobi, his words were only making her feel more useless since she doubted he would have been as worried if Toshio had attacked one of his other lovers. Therefore, she said, "Naruto, drop it please. You can't be everywhere at once and Toshio was obviously waiting for a moment where he believed that you would be unable to come to my aid. Besides, I'm fine I promise."

Naruto didn't look convinced, but aware his words hadn't calmed her and may have aggravated her further decided to remain silent. From the way Ayame pulled herself tighter against him, he guessed that was the best course of action for the moment. He then picked her up and carried her to her bed where he set her down before joining her.

Ayame placed her head against his chest and from his steady heartbeat and warmth soon found herself asleep. When she awoke the next morning she found herself alone. Aware that Naruto had needed to get back to Kumo, less his presence be missed, she didn't begrudge him taking off. Noticing that she had awakened later than usual she quickly got out of bed to get ready for the day, but stopped upon noticing that the knife she had placed on the nightstand was gone to be replaced by the tri-pronged kunai Naruto used. Picking it up, she admitted it felt more reassuring than the knife had been, but felt a resolve to only rely on it as a last resort. Knowing what that meant she needed to do, she felt herself stand a little taller as she marched to the shower in preparation for the day's activities.

* * *

Ayame watched as the last lunchtime customer left her stand. Before she could think of what she would like for her own, the flaps of her stand were thrown open as Kiyomi and Yoruichi stepped inside. Although always pleased to serve her fellow harem members, she was aware their visit had less to do with hunger then for concern about her well-being. But hoping she was wrong she said, "Welcome to Ichiraku. What can I get you?"

Kiyomi seemed to get the hint first so moved to the bar as she ordered a miso ramen. Yoruichi stared at her a moment longer, but followed suit by sitting next to her sister as she ordered a shrimp ramen. Ayame quickly filled their orders and then turned to scrub out one of the pots, but could feel their eyes on her. As she performed her chore she silently willed the two Bijuu not to bring up what had happened the night before. Finally after what had felt like an eternity since the pot had quickly been scrubbed clean but she had kept on going anyway, Kiyomi paid for the meal as she stood while saying, "We just stopped by to make sure you were alright. If you do need anything, feel free to ask."

Ayame stopped and with her back still towards the two women asked, "Would it be possible for you to enlarge my chakra coils so that I could train to become a kunoichi?"

"Easily," Kiyomi replied causing the ramen waitress to spin towards her. A small smile appeared on Kiyomi's face as she added, "Why so shocked? You did witness me turn your would be attacker into a woman after all." The Bijuu could see that Ayame was about to jump at the opportunity so she cautioned, "But don't be too hasty. It wouldn't be a quick process or a painless one. There is a reason why children are often selected as jinchuriki. My first host was able to find a way around this, but only because of the intricacy of her seals which allowed her to overtime absorb my power. To be honest, there is no reason for you to subject yourself to…"

"You're wrong," Ayame said determinedly. "I know that nobody thinks poorly of me because of my being just a civilian. I just don't want to be the only one that is always going to be left behind to worry about whether or not he's going to come back home. I want to be there at his side as he tries to make the world a better place. I can't do that by just making ramen."

Kiyomi sensed her determination, but still cautioned her by saying, "At the very least think about it further. I just don't want you to be jumping into this as a result of what almost happened. Once a little more time has passed and if you still feel the same way, come seek me out. Thanks for the meal."

Ayame watched the two women leave, yet was confident that time wouldn't lessen her determination, but strengthen it. Nevertheless, she was forced to agree that given her current emotional state it was a decision to make at a later date. Therefore she turned to more important matters like how she would welcome her lover back to the village.

* * *

Ayame could feel Naruto approaching her apartment and felt a wave of anticipation course through her. She had been present at the gate upon his return from Kumogakure and after a brief welcome back hug had placed a note in his hand telling him to meet her later that night at her home. Waiting for the inevitable knock at her door she continued to stir the pot in front of her while thinking about all that she had learned about his trip from his other lovers, primarily Yugito who had already filled them in on what had happened. Much as she expected, upon learning that Naruto and Tsunade had been attacked upon their return trip her desire to begin down the path of a kunoichi had only grown stronger.

The knock she had been waiting for cut into her thoughts causing her to say, "It's open."

Naruto stepped into the apartment but stopped as his drank in Ayame as she stood in front of the stove stirring the chop vegetables in her wok. Having not heard the door close she looked over her shoulder to give him a sultry smile and said, "Please close the door. It's getting rather drafty in here."

Her lover quickly did as she asked although she suspected it had less to do with him letting out the heat, but with what she was wearing which was nothing but an apron. She could feel his eyes on her naked backside and she felt herself grow wetter as a result. Turning to face him, she said, "Please have a seat, dinner is almost ready."

Naruto did as she asked, but only after washing his hands and upon sitting at her family's table asked her, "Um, aren't you worried about what would happen if your father came home?"

Ayame smiled, but instead of answering held up a letter she had received a few days earlier and tossed it to Naruto. The blond shinobi caught it and upon examining the envelope could see that it was postmarked several days prior as well as placed the point of origin as the Land of Demons. He was about to open it, but Ayame saved him the trouble by saying, "Daddy says hi. Also, apparently upon learning that one of the heroes that saved the Kazekage grew up eating nothing but Ichiraku Ramen, the shinobi of the Sand have made his stand one of the most popular ones in the village. He said he found a chef he trusts to run the place and has decided to try and open a new stand in the Land of Demons. I think that he believes that since you saved the priestess there he already has a built-in customer base." Naruto chuckled at that as she finished cooking his meal and after spooning it out onto a plate began to bring it to him while adding, "Plus with my dad clear on the other side of the Elemental Country. I don't think we need to worry about him interrupting any fun we may get up to."

She placed the plate of sautéed vegetables and rice down in front of her lover and could see his brow furrow together at the meal she prepared. Before he could complain about it not being ramen, she was about to remind him how he had promised his many lovers he'd start eating better. Yet, instead of complaining he picked up the chopsticks she had laid out earlier and began to eat his dinner. She could tell he was not overly thrilled with it as he would sometimes make faces upon placing one of the vegetables in his mouth.

She had a hard time not smiling since the way he was acting made her think back to when he was younger and she would sometimes force him to eat vegetables before serving him the ramen he so often craved. Figuring his good behavior deserved a reward, she returned to the kitchen in order to make him his favorite food as well.

She had just filled the pot she would use for the broth and noodles with water when she pressed up against the sink by Naruto. "Wait," she began to say as he pressed his lips against where her neck met her shoulder, "F-finish what I already brought you and I'll make you some ramen."

**Lemon scene scrubbed; blame the man for keeping us Lemon Authors down. Please see AFF or FicWad for full version**

Ayame slipped from the bed naked and was pleased to see that she had at least learned how to do so without waking her shinobi lover. Staring down at him, she felt a small smile tug at her lips as he looked so innocent whenever he slept. She quickly showered and left the apartment but instead of heading to her family's restaurant bypassed it to stand before the gates of Kiyomi's mansion. Punching in the code she was privy to as a member of the Konoha Women's Bathing Association. She headed to the Hot Springs. However, instead of stripping to enjoy the warm waters of the main area, she stepped into the grotto that led to several of the themed ones. Yet, instead of taking the various paths, she approached a torch which she turned causing a section of the cave like structure to slide open.

She entered the hidden path which opened into the basement of Kiyomi's mansion and allowed the various women access to it without being spotted by shinobi passing through the area or perverts trying to spy on the naked beauties. She found the basement a little creepy, mainly since it seemed that Kiyomi was gearing up to turn the room into some sort of lab. But she pushed that out of her mind as she climbed the steps up to the mansion proper. She had just about reached the top when the door opened to reveal Kiyomi who said, "I take it you've come to a decision."

Ayame shook her head in the negative as she replied, "No, my decision was made the moment I gave myself to the man I love."

"Are you sure? The path ahead is going to be quite painful."

Ayame smiled as she remembered what she told Naruto when he had told her to brace for the pain of having her virginity taken and repeating those words said, "It would be worth any amount of pain to be with him. I'm ready to begin when you are."

Kiyomi studied her for a moment, but seeing the woman's determination stepped to the side and waved her in as she said, "Then let's get you started on this new path you've chosen for yourself." Ayame nodded and preceded up the steps in order to begin the long journey towards becoming one of the pillars that would help support Naruto's ambition.

**Next chapter: Naruko**


	4. Naruko

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So if these type of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks. Furthermore I'm not making any money from this story.**

**Eroninja: The Limelight**

**Chapter 4: Naruko**

**It's Not Where Things Start, But Where They End**

***The events of this chapter of Limelight happen over the course of chapters 34 thru 37 in the main story.***

Naruko used the key that Naruto had given her to open the door to the jinchuriki's apartment. She still wasn't quite sure about how to react to her encounter with him. She wanted to maintain the anger she had been building up about how unfair it was that Naruto was given everything while all she had was his shitty memories. But considering that the encounter hadn't gone how she had expected it would, she found staying angry rather difficult.

Stepping into the apartment, she felt the vestiges of her anger begin to grow again. This was due to her being assailed by the upsetting memories that she had of Naruto's early years. Memories such as the occasional drunk filled with liquid courage shouting obscenities at the apartment building the young jinchuriki called his own back when Naruto was the only tenant. Due to the Third's law the potential troublemaker would often be swiftly dealt with usually only getting as far as shouting, "Hey monster…" before Anbu would handle the situation. It would leave the young jinchuriki confused but painfully aware that the village wished that the boy known as Naruto didn't exist and she was left with those memories.

Granted, there were good ones, but her access to them was a byproduct of her creation. The chakra entity that was now known as Naruko came into being in the final moments of an unleashed Kyuubi's fight against Jiraiya. Having broken free due to Jiraiya's tampering with the seal, the Bijuu went on a rampage with Naruto's body upon entering a four tail state. Jiraiya eventually connected with a Five Element Seal much like Orochimaru had placed on Naruto during the Chunin Exams. By creating the imbalance of an odd number seal over an even numbered one it had prevented Kyuubi from continuing to manifest its chakra past the seal into Naruto. That wasn't to say that Bijuu went down quickly afterwards as she was still able to manipulate Naruto until the chakra already in his system was used up. But with the chakra beasts last gasp it created the chakra entity. That entity was to put pressure on Naruto from outside the seal in order to weaken his resolve to keep Kyuubi contained. Therefore loaded up with his saddest memories the chakra entity was to remind Naruto about how he suffered alone for so many years. Unfortunately for Kyuubi's plan, it had underestimated one thing, the bond between a teacher and his student.

Naruko frowned as she recalled those happier memories as even those filled her with a certain amount of anger. Primarily due to how she had so desired to take Naruto's place. It was shortly after her creation as the chakra entity that it had planned to achieve that desire. Naturally this meant it had never truly planned to release Kyuubi. In fact once Naruto had reached his weakest point the chakra entity planned to destroy his consciousness and then simply step into his life as seamlessly as possible. All the while keeping Kyuubi safely contained behind its seal.

But then the Bijuu had to go and get itself freed without her. Naruko had sensed the change come over Kyuubi, as it had stopped urging its creation to weaken Naruto's mental state. But, she had chalked it up to Bijuu having grown tired of waiting and was attempting to manipulate him herself through his recently awakened sexual appetite. Little did the chakra entity realize that the Bijuu's own appetite had been discovered or that she had apparently forgotten about her creation due to her growing preoccupation with sex. Naruko was just coming to the realization that the Bijuu wasn't playing when she had escaped. This had nearly been the chakra entity's undoing as with Kyuubi's original form lying dormant and therefore not pushing chakra through the seal, the entity had nearly ceased to exist as it needed the Bijuu chakra to hold its will together. Luckily though in Kiyomi's zest to correct the problem her vacating her fox form had created, she had freed Kushina and thus exposed the conduit that had been sustaining the Uzumaki's soul since its sealing in her son.

With a fresh source of Bijuu chakra and able to bask in it to its hearts content, no longer relying on the trifling amount the seal let through when the Bijuu on the other side was pushing it through, it had freed the chakra entity to truly make its push to becoming the true Naruto. However, in the end once the Entity continued existence had become known it never stood a chance against the Bijuu that had created it. To its surprise it didn't truly cease to exist once the Bijuu that now called itself Kiyomi had reabsorbed the chakra sustaining the Entity. Instead it seemed to exist in a dreamlike state. A dream where it was no longer watching Naruto's life through his eyes but was living it. Where the people that Naruto knew saw it and were thus capable of being interacted with.

Then the dream ended and she found herself trapped in female mockery of the person she had desired to replace. Therefore now standing in his apartment she was reminded of how her own ambition was thwarted especially as it appeared his life currently on an upswing. Deciding if she couldn't have his life she was at least entitled to some of his stuff Naruko tossed Naruto's jacket away and began ransacking his house. Naturally due to the memories she possessed she didn't need to, but she made a great show of rifling through his drawers. Reaching his closet, she tossed several of his jumpsuits out as she was going for his backpack. She stopped though as she came upon a jumpsuit that Naruto had worn as a genin. Actually surprised by her find, she guessed that it was one of several that he had left behind during his training trip. Naruko stared at the old suit before feeling a smile appear on her face. Stripping out of the clothes she had been sleeping in before escaping Kiyomi's, she pulled the old style jumpsuit one. Although small on her, she was able to full put them on. She moved to a mirror and saw that the jacket now exposed her midriff and that the jeans hugged her hips while covering only up to her knees.

Although she felt the look worked for her, she was tempted to take the clothes off since it was only due to her being a female that she didn't look goofy in the tight clothes. Feeling like a man trapped in a woman's body she felt the wearing the clothes was on some level accepting her new gender. Yet in the end she decided to wear them. She was a ninja after all and a ninja used every asset available. Even those that they personally didn't care for. Finding a few more of the old jumpsuits, she stuffed them in the bag before helping herself to some ninja tools. Naruko headed to the door, but first henged herself to look like Naruto. She had one last stop left to make and was just glad Konoha was a shinobi village since it had twenty-four hour banking. Figuring she'd help herself to some of his funds as well, she left the apartment for parts unknown. The same thing could be said about the existence she had been given.

* * *

Naruko had run for a day and a half before needing to rest after coming across an inn. However even that disappointed her since once during the training trip Jiraiya had wanted to drain most of Naruto's chakra in order to better learn how his seal worked. He had told the blond man to run until he couldn't. Obviously up for any physical training the jinchuriki had gladly accepted the challenge and gone three days before stopping. Of course him being who he was he had literally collapsed in the bed of the small cabin they were renting were he slept for three days as well. But, Naruko figured it was to be expected considering that she didn't have a Bijuu's chakra to fall back on.

Naruko, with her endurance properly gauged had checked into the most expensive room the inn possessed and proceeded to splurge on herself using the funds she had liberated from Naruto's accounts. Shortly thereafter she was passed out in bed. She wasn't aware of how long she slept, but eventually nature called, due to all the expensive drinks she had ordered. It was then that she learned although she was completely female, some of Naruto's old mannerisms had carried over. This lesson came as a result of coming fully awake as a result of a warmth running through her pants as a result of her peeing herself while standing in front of a toilet as if she were a man.

She cursed as she scrambled about while she tried to unbutton her pants so she could finish. She eventually succeeded, but upon sitting on the toilet ended up in the bowl since while half-asleep she had lifted the seat up. She managed to pull herself out in order to finish, but grumbled about red-headed Bijuu meddling with people's genders. Naruko considered just leaving the mess she had made, but felt a measure of guilt about the thought. Deciding that it wouldn't be fair to make someone else clean up her piss just because she was having a bad night, she quickly handled the mess. Figuring she might as well do the same for herself she stripped off her top to take a shower. She paused though as she stared at her reflection. Having not been around when Naruto first dreamed up the concept of the sexy jutsu, Naruko had no idea what he thought of the form she now possessed. For a brief moment she wondered if he found it attractive, but quickly banished it from her mind feeling that it was "girlie."

Trying to maintain her belief that she was a man trapped in a woman's body she tried to quipped, "I guess there could be worse things to wake up to see as my reflection." However, it didn't generate very much mirth within her so she simply moved on to the shower.

Once she was under the warm spray of the water she cleaned herself quickly and efficiently but did her best to avoid any sort of exploring. The reason was that she was afraid she'd begin to lose her already tenuous grip on her gender identity. Naruko hadn't run for so long because she had wanted to test her endurance that had become her excuse midway through her trip. She had ran because she was sure that at any moment a cadre of kunoichi would be chasing her down to get back what she had taken from the man they all shared. But she had made an interesting discovery as a result, namely that much like the Bijuu that had created her, Naruko's existence had been missing the crucial exhilaration of physical stimulus. This had become more and more apparent as she had run from Konoha and she began to feel the telltale signs that she was growing tired. Still aware that there could be quite a few angry women on her tail she had pushed herself harder.

That had been the other reason she had splurged as she had wanted to experience all that her new expanded senses could. She had actually learned that for whatever reason she didn't like Miso in her ramen or any of its other uses. That had come as a shock especially as she was confident that it was Naruto's favorite flavor. Needing to push the bowl of Ramen away, as she couldn't finish it, forced Naruko to confront why she was so desirous of Naruto's life. She had a difficult time answering until she realized that the secret lay in his relationship with his lovers and the other people in his life. It obviously wasn't the physical aspect of his relationships with the women he was with. As even though she had "sat in" on some of his encounters, she hadn't gleamed any of the pleasure that she was sure he was feeling from them. If Naruko was to be completely honest what had truly made her desirous of his existence was the way he was looked at. She desired to have someone look at her in the same way. Desired to have someone's eyes light up when she would step into the room the way she had seen on the likes of Tsunade or his other lovers.

Naruko abandoned her train of thought as she turned off the water. She tried to conjurer up some of her resentment at Naruto for having what she desired. However, she found the effort to be rather taxing so simply decided to go to bed. Not bothering to throw any clothes on she toweled off and climbed under the covers. Not completely sure what to do with her life now, she decided to seek some advice from someone she believed may be experiencing much of the same feelings as her. Therefore in the morning she planned to head to a rather new town that had sprung up just after Naruto had left on his training trip. There she expected to find a man that much like her knew what it was like to live with the memories of Naruto, but be forced to become someone else.

* * *

Naruko dropped down from the trees to walk the final few miles to her destination. She did this as a precaution since shinobi often came under intense scrutiny from the local samurai of Claw Country. She couldn't fault them though in part due to the rekindled tensions along their northern border with The Land of Fangs. However, also adding to it was that now both countries shard a border along the Land of Earth's Southwestern border. Considering how their previous shared neighbor the Land of Noodles had been absorbed she was sure both the Fang and Claw Daimyo had left explicit instructions to stop and question any shinobi entering their territories.

Naruko from what she had gleamed during her time trying to undermine Naruto's will was quite aware that the area was becoming a powder keg. This was due to the Land of Earth expanding its territory along its Western Front. It had yet to move overtly instead destabilizing the governments so that it could step in to restore the peace. However, those in Naruto's harem that received briefings from the village's intelligence community were being told that Iwa was in fact causing that destabilization. And with information gleamed from Sakura's battle with Sasori it was believed that Iwa had even hired Akatsuki once to topple a country.

It was during the period of time that Naruto had pulled away from his lovers after confronting Kanji that the jinchuriki had turned his attention to the brewing situation. He couldn't understand why the other Four Elemental Countries would turn a blind eye to what was going on in the area. He had broached the subject with Tsunade only to learn that she had been given strict orders from the Fire Daimyo to stay out of Earth's affairs. According to her, the other Daimyo felt so long as Earth Country kept its attention off of the other great countries it was no concern of theirs. Naturally this did not sit well with Naruto; however he was forced to relent when Tsunade had pointed out that none of the countries that had fallen to this point had asked for help.

It was also at this time that Naruto learned that tensions between Fang Country and Claw Country were coming to a boil. This was no more apparent than in a town called Paradise City. It straddled the border of both countries and the resource rich area had been the cause of much of the strife between them. It was named after the first book in Jiraiya's Make Out series, since it was the manuscript that Naruto had written and accidently sent to the Fang Country Daimyo that had caused peace to breakout between the two countries. It had been built as a symbol of the new relationship the two countries hoped to establish. The people that had moved there had given it an honest go, but unfortunately it didn't last long. Soon the city had become a battleground and order had only been established when both countries sent in troops so that the resources on their side of the town could be sent back to their respective capitols.

The tale of Paradise city had stuck with Naruto and since he had heard that most of the fighting that had broken out had been between the citizens of the village as a result old blood feuds. He realized that even if he and his lovers changed things from the top of the ninja world. There was no guarantee that the citizens of the various countries would go along with it.

During the month where he had pulled back from his harem he had pondered on this matter greatly as it helped take his mind off of the depression that the chakra entity Naruko had been was creating. He had come up with a plan to at least see if those old blood feuds could be mended, and had taken steps to implement it. However, Naruko had been removed by Kiyomi before he had. But she believed he had done so some time after since one of the things he had done to prepare to implement it had been purchasing a travel bag. A bag that she noticed had been missing as she ransacked his apartment. Although she couldn't be sure if Naruto still planned to try to influence the people of Paradise City into getting along, it seemed like a reasonable place to start.

Naruko entered the village but had a hard time thinking of it by its name. She felt that Village of the Damned would have been a more accurate term. This was due to the many broken and boarded up windows as well as the general atmosphere. Although, relatively inexperienced in such matters even she could feel the ominous aura that violence could erupt at any minute. She nearly found herself at the center of an eruption when while turning a corner lost in thought she bumped into a powerfully built man.

"Excuse me," she said sincerely while trying to move around the guy.

She found her path barred by the man's colleagues as he said, "Hm, what do we have here? Another stranger entering our fair town, we hate strangers don't we Maul."

"Can't stand them," the large man she had bumped into said taking up a position behind her.

Naruko looked over her shoulder and saw the man was covered in scars. One of which started on top of his bald head and cut all the way down into his cheek. He was bulging with muscles and she suspected that at some point when the town had first been founded he had worked in one of the mines. She turned back to the man blocking her path and although smaller she guessed he had the same occupation since like his partner he was coated in a layer of dust that she believed he carried in his pores due to his many hours of digging.

"Then it is fortunate that I'm just passing through," Naruko said trying to go around the black-haired man blocking her path.

The man moved to block her in again, but before either Naruko or he could speak a third voice cut in saying, "Hey, what are you two doing?"

"What is it Mila," the man in front of Naruko said without taking his eyes off of her.

"Bass, said to get your asses down to Otose's. We're running that bastard D out of town."

The man in front of her smirked before saying, "Looks like it's your lucky day. If you know what's good for you. You'll head back the way you came."

The two men took off after the young woman that had called for them leaving Naruko alone. She shrugged before following in their wake to see what all the excitement was about. As she walked she found that the damage actually got worse the closer she got to what she assumed was the town center and were the border of the two countries it sat on met. She also noticed that the graffiti grew worse as stylized claws were painted on many of the walls. Some would be X'd over to be replaced by what appeared to be fangs. However, all of the fang marks were crossed out making Naruko guess that the town residents were marking their turf. She guessed that whenever one side would seize an area they would mark it until the other reclaimed it. With that thought in mind she figured the town center would be a real shit hole considering it was likely where most of the fighting would be taking place.

However, she was rather surprised when the area appeared mostly untouched. Coming to a stop she saw the gathered residents of Claw on one side of the town center were a hotel and bar called Otose's resided. From the opposite direction a group she assumed would be Fang residents began to gather. She noted that both groups stopped just outside the repaired section of the village. The two sides stared each other down until finally a large bearded man stepped forward from the Claw group shouting to the opposite faction. "Get your punk asses out of here Kanbei. We'll run you Fang Country losers off our land after we deal with the punk sticking his nose in our business."

"I'm sorry what was that Bass," a smaller grey-haired man with a cigar sticking out of the side of his mouth said stepping forward, "I'm afraid I don't speak gorilla."

Several members of the Fang group began making primate sounds causing the Claw assembly to bristle. Several members looked like they were about to charge across the town square to tear into the gathered Fangs having forgotten their reason for coming. However, both groups were reminded as a man stepped out of Otose's saying, "Oi, oi, oi, what's this ruckus. Do you guys have no idea what time it is? I was just about to sit down to enjoy a nice meal. I would recommend you all do the same."

Naruko sank back a little further into the shadows aware that she had found the person she was looking for. Although he was missing the tell-tale whisker marks as well as there being a few other minor differences to his face and his hair was brown, not to mention much longer than Naruto kept it. She could spot enough traits to recognize the man as a clone, especially since he still had the same clear blue eyes that she did.

From the crowd she was able to sense both a desire to pummel the man senseless, but also a healthy respect for his prowess in combat. This came across in the forms of some of the would-be combatants nervously holding their makeshift weapons of pickaxes and other mining tools in white knuckled grips.

The man called Bass took a step closer shouting, "I think it's time you made like a leaf and get the fuck out of here. We're sick of you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"Although the Gorilla is as crass as always, I think it would be best for you to do as he says," the silver-haired man named Kanbei added.

D smirked as he moved further away from the building he had exited from. Standing between the two groups he said, "And here I thought you two couldn't see eye to eye on anything. But…I'm going to have to refuse. You see, Otose paid me to fix up her store. I gave her a year warranty on the repairs and if I let you guys have your way I'd just have to fix everything up all over again."

"Have it your way punk," Bass shouted charging the still smiling man with several of his fellow countrymen following in his wake. Upon reaching him, Bass pulled back a large fist before sending it flying towards D's chin.

D leaped back only to find that Kanbei and several of his group had also charged towards him. Blocking the older man's strike, he lashed out with a kick that caught one of his fellows in the stomach. He then grabbed the groaning man and tossed him into Kanbei. By then Bass had caught up, but before he could strike with another punch his head was snapped back by a cartwheel kick from D. Who upon landing swept the large man off his feet.

From his crouching position he caught another Claw combatant in the face with a leaping knee. The stumbling man was sent flying as D kicked off of his chest to avoid a pickaxe in the side from a resident of Fang. Landing behind the man he caught the weapon by the handle as the man spun to face him and then yanking it out of his hands, sent him spinning away when he spun and smashed the handle in the side of the man's head.

D was forced on the defensive by the Claw woman named Mila as she unleashed a series of blows at him. Although the woman was rather skilled, Naruko believed D's hesitance was due to her being a woman. But that turned out to not be the case when Bass charged in to help. After blocking the two opponents combined efforts for several moments D grabbed Mila's arm and pulled her in front of one of Bass's fists. His shot caught the woman in the back sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Baby, I'm sor…" the man began to say but found his ability to speak stolen as D smashed his fist into his stomach.

Kanbei smirked at the scene saying, "What a shame the gorilla hurt his precious daughter…" But he in turn was sent flying as D hit him with an air bullet jutsu. The Fang country resident hit the ground hard but rolled to his feet to glare at the man.

Bass got back to his feet holding his daughter in his arms. Giving D a glare similar to the one Kanbei was he said, "This isn't over punk." He began heading back to his side of town along with his group.

D turned towards Kanbei and getting back into a fighter's stance said, "Your move."

Kanbei dusted himself off as he lit a new cigar. Holding it in his fingers, he pointed at the man to say, "I assure you that you're going to regret meddling in things you know nothing about."

"I know it's pretty stupid to pick a fight with me just so you can go back to fighting each other."

D sighed when the man simply turned to head back to the Fang portion of the town. Sticking his hands in his pockets he was about to head back to the bar when he caught sight of Naruko. The blonde woman saw a spark of recognition, but instead of reacting to her presence he simply headed back to Otose's. Curious at his reaction she waited several moments and then followed him inside.

Stepping into the bar portion of the building she found it to be empty except for an older woman and the man she had followed. She arrived just as the woman was putting a tray filled with plates down in front of the man and said, "Honestly D, I'm telling you to get out of town while you still can."

D began devouring the food, but in between bites managed to say, "And I'm telling you I don't like leaving things half finished. You paid me to fix up your building. I intend for the results to last longer than a few weeks."

"You did a fine job," the woman that Naruko assumed was Otose said as she lit a cigarette, "but it isn't worth you dying over."

"Ah come on Granny," D said looking over his shoulder and giving the woman an amused smile. "I'm much stronger than those guys. Besides, you said that you built your business here because it was the one place that neither Fang nor Claw could truly claim ownership of. You said it was your dream that one day it would be filled with laughter from both sides of town."

"Honestly, it was a silly thing to believe possible brat. There's just too much bad blood between these two countries. I probably would've shut this place down if you hadn't arrived. In case it's escaped your notice you've been my only customer. Well except when one faction or the other would claim possession of the town center."

D looked away for a moment and Naruko could see that he feared the same thing, but when he turned back to the older woman he said, "Hey, dreams can never become reality if you give up on them."

Otose laughed softly before saying, "Well don't come crying to me when you end up dead in the street." Noticing Naruko she said, "Oh another customer. I hope you aren't a troublemaker like this one." The proprietor frowned when she didn't get a response and noticed how her new guest was staring hard at D. Afraid one of the two factions had hired a trouble buster she began to say, "Look, you better not be here to cau…"

"Otose, can you leave us alone for a moment," D said not taking his eyes from Naruko.

The woman looked at D worriedly but after a moment said, "Sure, I have to get started on the main course."

Once the older woman had headed to the kitchen Naruko moved to the table and sat down opposite the brown-haired Naruto replica. They continued to size each other up until D smiled widely as he said, "I'm surprised you actually were aware of me. I was under the impression you had been removed from Naruto when I was created."

Naruko was surprised by his relaxed demeanor especially as he began grabbing for some of the food. Curious she asked, "How do you know about me?"

Leaning forward D said, "I'm a K-clone. This was one of the reasons he was working on mastering the jutsu."

Naruko nodded since Naruto had come up with the idea when she had still had her hooks in him as the chakra entity. "When did he create you?"

"Well I guess you could say I was one of the original production run," D said amused as he broke some bread before munching on it. "After you were exercised from him so to speak, his lovers decided to show him just how much they had missed him. Well when it came to Tayuya's turn Naruto decided to unveil the jutsu he had been working on. I was one of the clones he created. But where my fellows were tripping over each other to get access to her, I decided to go through with his plan. I figured I'd get to enjoy myself a bit more if I did."

"I'm guessing you learned about me through the other clones he's made since then."

"Pretty much," D said. "That, plus I sprout boners as I absorb the memories of his clones whenever he uses them to satisfy his ladies. But I don't get the feeling you came here to talk about that or my mission to try to make Paradise City live up to its name."

"Not exactly," Naruko said before leaning forward to say conspiratorially, "I want to know why. I saw you fight. You're staying away from using shadow clones or any of the other jutsu you have access to. It even appears you taught yourself the air bullet that Shukaku used against Naruto during his fight with it. Provided you don't use the clone jutsu he'd have no idea as to what you are up to. Why continue to follow through with his plans?"

D finished a plate of scallops before answering, "Because truthfully I feel it more my ambition then his now." Naruko stared at him in confusion causing the clone to explain, "I know you've only been awake for a few days now, but I think you'll come to learn that the longer you exist. The less you'll come to view yourself as some knockoff of Naruto."

Naruko glowered slightly, but couldn't completely hide the small tremor of emotion as she asked, "Why?"

D sat back rubbing his belly before letting out belch. Then turning towards the kitchen he shouted, "Hurry it up Otose, I'm starving out here."

"Be quiet, it's almost finished."

D turned his attention back to Naruko to answer her by saying, "You might say it is simply because as you progress through this world, you'll encounter hardships and triumphs that will shape your perception of both the world and yourself. Take me for example. I would say that while it was Naruto's idea to come here to get the two factions to come together and I started out as him to fulfill it. The longer I've gone by the name D, the more I've come to identify myself as it. You could also say that I'm more committed to the goal of unifying the people of this village then Naruto is. Just as he is dedicated to fulfilling Jiraiya's goal on the much larger stage and although I get status updates in the form of his clones dispelling. I consider myself divorced from the memories I receive as a result. I've come to realize that you can't actually appreciate another's memories without experiencing them yourself."

"And what happens when he grows tired of this experiment and decides to end it?"

"Then I guess, I'll become just a collection of memories in his life that he doesn't truly appreciate to the same extent that I did."

Naruko was surprised by the nonchalant way D replied. Confused she said, "You can't honestly tell me you're okay with that."

D shrugged as he answered, "Why not. I already told you. The two clones I was created with decided that they rather have a night of pleasure with Tayuya then take up this mission. Having experienced their memories I can't say I blame them. But I undertook this plan with the understanding there were no guarantees. For instance, you noticed that I didn't fight with clones. Well on one hand I don't use the jutsu associated with Naruto because it would cause people to ask questions. I mean if I used Rasengan it would pretty much cement that I have a tie to either Naruto or Jiraiya. Not something a person wants to do when he is using a cover story that he is a wondering genin dropout from Kumo. The other reason is because of a limitation that I have that Naruto doesn't."

"What is that?"

"I don't recoup chakra like most people. I'm not eating like this for nothing you know. The truth is nothing would deplete my chakra faster than using the shadow clone jutsu. If I create a clone and it was dispelled, well you can say goodbye to half my chakra."

"So you're saying that because you can't fight like him you've become a different person."

"To a certain point," D said and commenting on Naruko's tone added, "You don't have to get so upset at me you know. I'm not Naruto."

Naruko glared at the clone but said, "I'm hardly convinced. To me it sounds like you're carrying delusions of grandeur. No matter how you want to look at it you're just a cheap copy."

D chuckled not rising to Naruko's ire. Leaning back in his chair he said, "I think with time you'll come to see things from my point of view. You call this Naruto's experiment, however to me it is much more than that. It's become my life's goal. I learned about my limitations with chakra the hard way and arrived in this town nearly chakra depleted. I don't think I need to point out to you what would happen if I ran out. Otose found me lying in a gutter and offered me the food she had just bought for the bar and offered me a place to stay. Did you know that she was here before even the town was founded?"

Naruko shook her head in the negative and D leaned forward with a smile as he said, "Well neither is Naruto. It turns out she was from Fang Country originally, and that she ended up marrying a man from Claw. They founded this place on the border of both countries to cater to the mines on both sides of the invisible lines that separate them. When they built Paradise City it was only natural it would spring up around Otose's and for a time it was filled with the laughter of the people from both countries."

Looking out the window at the current state of the town, Naruko asked, "What happened?"

D shrugged but said, "That's hard to say really. Eventually things soured between the rulers of both countries and although for a time things continued on peacefully here. Things fell apart here when both mines began to experience acts of sabotage that they blamed on the opposite faction. Before anyone knew it, the old negative feelings that had appeared to go away exploded back onto the scene. Otose wants to believe that those happier days can be recaptured and truthfully that's why I'm dedicated to seeing it happen. Much like me, you'll eventually find your own motivations for going forward in this world and I think you'll find your origins will not matter so much as the journey."

Naruko scoffed, and stood. Turning to the exit she said, "Thanks for the insight, but you at least got all his memories. Me…I just got the shitty ones."

D shrugged, but replied, "True, but what does that have to do with what tomorrow brings. Naruko, you were given a gift. Don't waste it with thoughts of how things started. Try to concentrate on what they can become."

Again Naruko scoffed, but did say, "Thanks for the advice," before taking off out the door. Leaping to the rooftops, she decided to put as much distance between her and the copy as possible. Still some of what he said stuck with her even after she had left Claw Country behind.

* * *

Naruko was in The Land of Stones, which was a country nestled between The Land of Earth to the north and Land of Wind to the South. It also ran along the Land of Rain's western border. After leaving Claw, she had passed through Bird Country which bordered Stone's western border. Much as the name implied Stone Country was covered in large Rock outcroppings. Many of which were said to be carried to the country from the Land of Earth in a rare but famous natural phenomenon called Rock Rain. Because of this many of the buildings were built into the many hills that made up the landscape.

Naruko had decided to use the Land of Stone's close proximity to Ame as a way to shield herself from any of Naruto's lovers' ire, as she was confident they would give Akatsuki's base of operations a wide berth. Plus, she doubted she'd run into the jinchuriki either. It had only been a day since her encounter with D when she had entered Stone Country and she was still bothered by what he had told her. She believed that it stemmed from the fact that according to him. She'd eventually not only come to accept her new life, but actually embrace it. Considering that would mean she'd also come to embrace being a woman, she wasn't sure that was something she was interested in.

But she did take his words about experiencing her own hardships which would help shape her to heart. Therefore upon deciding to make Stone her temporary base of operations, she had begun to learn if Kiyomi had made any other changes to her. It didn't take long for Naruko to learn that she had not only changed her gender, but her chakra elemental nature as well. Upon learning that the Rasenshuriken had also been taken from her, Naruko had felt a fresh surge of anger at the Bijuu and the man that had housed it.

She had then spent the next several days trying to determine what her new chakra nature was, but also how to incorporate it into the Rasengan. Sadly, after three days she was no closer to learning either. Growing frustrated, but also rather ripe due to her staying outdoors, she had gone in search of a hotel or inn where she could eat a warm meal and clean up. Upon finding an inn with an outdoor bath, Naruko had found one benefit to her new form. She could bath in the female portion without any gruff from the other women present. She was also quite pleased to learn that she still found women attractive. But that discovery proved to be a double edged sword when her body began to respond to the arousal she felt from the naked females on display as it was a reminder of her new gender as her pussy began to tingle in a way wholly foreign to her.

It also caused a surge of embarrassment in the woman as she sunk below the water up to her chin to hide her hardened nipples. Not wishing to give away how she had become aroused by the other bathers she resolved to stay in until the others left. The moment arrived when a dinner bell sounded alerting the guests that it was time to eat. The other women began to leave since the inn was run by a family and all the guest ate at the same time. Once she was alone Naruko stood to leave as well but heard a perverse giggle once her ass cleared the water that caused her to whip around. Staring at the wooden fence she instantly spotted the eyeball staring at her through a small hole. "Eek!" she said clutching her body to cover herself as she fell down into the water.

One of the other guests heard her and threw open the sliding door to ask, "What is it?"

Naruko pointed and the woman spotted the eyeball that appeared to widened in shock due to its being discovered, especially as the lady shouted, "Pervert!" It was a call that was taken up by the other female bathers and Naruko could hear them storming out to go in search of the pervert. The eye disappeared to escape the angered women allowing Naruko to run into the changing room. There she threw on a robe, but since she wasn't very skilled at fastening properly, it exposed a great deal of her chest. She then took the direct route leaping over the fence to go in search of the peeper.

Unfortunately, whoever it had been appeared to be quite skilled at covering his tracks. Heading back to the inn, she joined the other guests in eating and tried to ignore the looks she received from the males present due to how she wore her robe. She was about a third of the way through her second bowl of rice when another guest entered the dining room. Naruko paid the person no mind as she concentrated on her meal so she could get a third bowl of the quickly diminishing meal. She nearly spit it up though when the hostess said, "Ah Lord Jiraiya. I had feared you were not going to be joining us."

Naruko turned to see Jiraiya flash a huge smile as he said, "And miss your delicious cooking, never. Sorry I'm late. I was struck by a sudden inspiration to write and lost track of time."

A few of the guest chuckled including some of the female ones, but Naruko wondered if they would be as amused if they knew he was most likely the peeking perv. Naruko tried to keep her cool, but doubted Jiraiya's arrival was a coincidence until one of the other guests said, "You must simply continue the tale that you started this morning Lord Jiraiya."

Naruko was surprised at hearing that since she had only arrived that afternoon. Trying not to attract attention to herself, she found it difficult to remain calm when the Sannin took a seat opposite from her. Accepting a bowl he said, "Ah let's see. Where did I leave off? Oh right, well as you may recall I was tasked with infiltrating a relatively unknown village."

"What village was that?" a young woman said leaning forward in earnest.

"Nadeshiko Village," Jiraiya said with a grin that Naruko found slightly perverted. "It's a relatively isolated village near the Land of Water. But it was renowned for having strong warriors."

"Really," a male guest said sounding rather surprised, "I've never heard of any warriors calling it home before."

Jiraiya chuckled as he said, "Well that's because it is isolated." A few of the guests chuckled along with him and Naruko was forced to admit the way he was taking command of the room was likely what made him a great spy master. Continuing he said, "But, the other reason was because the warriors of Nadeshiko tended to stay out of the conflicts of the shinobi world."

"Then how would people know if they were strong?"

Jiraiya smiled at her and to her shock it had been Naruko who had just spoken. "An excellent question," the Toad Sannin said, "The reason for that was because of a unique custom. You see all of the warriors encountered from that village were female. A kunoichi from the village would often appear and challenge some shinobi they deemed worthy. In most reported cases they would beat the shinobi and leave. A few shinobi had gone missing with the last known encounter being with a kunoichi of Nadeshiko."

"Why," Naruko asked despite herself.

Jiraiya smirked and then took a few bites of his meal. Leaning forward he said, "That was what I took it upon myself to find out. I back tracked a few of the kunoichi's trails back to their home island. I had just gotten started on my research when I was discovered."

Hearing Jiraiya favored term for peeking on bathing women knocked Naruko right out of the story as she suddenly had an image of Jiraiya, not conducting a mission for the Leaf's benefit, but for perverted material for his books upon hearing a tale about an island filled with beautiful women. She suddenly imagined that Jiraiya's discovery had taken place somewhere near a bathing house located in the village. She also came to the conclusion that he was perfectly aware of who and what she was upon his nervous chuckling from the glare she was sending his way.

"That mission sounded quite dangerous," another female guest said.

Jiraiya didn't respond right away and forced himself to turn his gaze away from the blonde woman sitting across from him. "What… right, right dangerous. Well it turned out I had been discovered by no other than the Leader of the village. I had managed to escape, but she managed to track me down. Once she did we battled for three days straight."

Naruko continued glaring at the Sannin as she said, "She was probably upset that you spied on her in the bath."

"Actually she had asked for my hand in marriage," Jiraiya quickly rebutted Naruko's statement, but noticed that a few of the women present had noticed that he didn't necessarily deny spying on her in the bath. Aware that they might make the leap of logic that he had also been the pervert peeper early he quickly said, "You see it turns out the women of Nadeshiko Village respect strength and will only marry a man capable of defeating them in combat. The recent upsurge in encounters was just a new generation going out in search of husbands."

"What about you? Did you beat her?"

"Actually it ended in a draw," Jiraiya said rubbing his chin. "I kind of regret not finishing our duel she was a true beauty. But, at the time I had my heart set on another."

Naruko's gaze softened since she knew that other woman had been Tsunade and was also aware that she was now seeing the man's apprentice. But the sadness disappeared from his eyes as he laughed boisterously while saying, "But maybe I'll pay the village another visit. Who knows, maybe it's not too late to find myself a pretty little wife." Jiraiya finished his meal and then said, "Ah, now that I think about it we did promise each other that if we didn't get the chance to finish our match our apprentices would. I probably should pass that on to my apprentice."

"Oh my," the hostess said giggling, "I can't imagine how he would react upon defeating a strange woman only to learn that she intends to marry him as a result."

A few of the guests began laughing along with Jiraiya after he said, "I imagine he would handle it quite well so maybe I shouldn't spoil the surprise."

"Thanks for the meal," Naruko said abruptly standing to leave. Heading to her room she could only imagine how Naruto would handle it and considering how it would likely move his ambition forward while adding another person that would stare at him adoringly couldn't help feeling jealous at how she had been denied his existence.

* * *

The moon shone brightly as Naruko prepared to leave the inn. She had continuously looked outside her window for some sign of the Toad Sage. However, she had spotted none, so as a result was waiting for the opportune time to make her break from it. She received it a handful of minutes later as a cloud she had been watching cut across the moon coating the area in a sudden darkness. She darted from her second story window and upon landing, cleared most of the open ground before the light of the moon began to appear past the cloud again. Reaching her goal, which was a bunch of standing rocks the locals called the Rock Forest, she darted among the large stones. But she came to a skidding halt upon finding Jiraiya barring her path as he sat on the head of a large orange toad while drinking a cup of sake.

"Ah, it's good to see you again."

"How?!"

"Why the same way that I arrived at the inn before you did. I just know how a person trying to avoid detection thinks."

"It didn't help you find Orochimaru though," Naruko responded angrily preparing to attack the sage.

"No…no it didn't," Jiraiya said sadly as he stood from his perch.

A moment later the toad disappeared and Naruko charged into the smoke hoping to score a hard enough hit that she could get past the Sannin. Throwing a punch, she felt it get caught in Jiraiya's large fist and then was disoriented as he grabbed her jacket in order to slam her into the ground. Stunned by the blow, she was surprised when he let her go to stand with his back to her.

Rolling to her stomach, she prepared to attack him again but stopped as he said, "I didn't come here to fight you."

"Bullshit," Naruko said getting back to her feet, "Do you honestly expect me to believe you just happened across me and decided to follow me?"

"Nope," Jiraiya said turning, "Tsunade sent me."

Hearing that the Slug Sannin, and the woman Naruko most figured would hold a grudge about her stealing from Naruto, had sent Jiraiya had the blonde woman charging the man to attack again. She leapt the final few feet while striking out with a punch that Jiraiya blocked easily. Not even budging from her effort the Sannin waited until she landed to smash his forehead into hers sending the woman skidding along the ground backwards.

She came to a stop and stared up at the moon before saying, "Finish it. I know I can't beat you."

"My you're quite the drama queen," Jiraiya said taking a seat opposite from her. "Now if you'd only sit still for a moment I'll tell you why I came. It's true Tsunade sent me and she is pissed at that stunt you pulled in Konoha. But if you ask me the brat deserved it."

Naruko stared up from her back at the sitting Sannin who chuckled at the surprise written on her face. "What! He did the same thing to me several months back when he used some of my funds to pay for a date with one of his girls."

Naruko remembered how Naruto had used Jiraiya's money to pay for his date with Ayame. Sitting up she said, "Well you did do the same thing to him."

"Oh ho, what's this? Taking the brat's side now."

"N-no, I'm just saying…"

Jiraiya laughed cutting the woman off. Smirking at her, the Toad Sage said, "In any case, the reason Tsunade sent me has less to do with the money, but the concern she feels about you. I don't think I need to tell you about how she's lost several of her loved ones and she probably sees you as a big potential threat who might one day come gunning for the man she loves."

"That has to be a punch in the gut for you," Naruko said coldly. "The woman you love sending you out to deal with a threat to the man she loves."

Jiraiya shrugged as he said, "No, not really. I long ago came to the realization Tsunade never would feel for me as I do for her. But I still want her to be happy, which brings me here. Besides kid you have it all wrong. I'm not here to deal with you. I'm just here to sort of get a feel for you."

"Really, so what have you decided?"

Again Jiraiya shrugged as he replied, "Hard to say. Right now, you're just a confused mess of emotions I imagine. But I can say in the combat prowess category Tsunade has nothing to fear."

Naruko shot to her feet as she said, "What's that supposed to me? I'm just as capable as Naruto."

Jiraiya got back to his own feet as he said, "Not even close kid. You might know the moves, but that doesn't make you as good as he is." Naruko gritted her teeth before charging forward determined to prove she was every bit as good as everyone's precious Naruto.

* * *

The sun was rising as Naruko was sent tumbling back along the ground. She tried to get back to her feet, but only managed to get to her knees. Staring at Jiraiya, she was forced to admit to feeling some shame at the fact she hadn't budge the Sannin an inch. Looking at his feet she believed that he hadn't moved from where he had originally planted them.

"I…I give up," she said sagging in defeat, "I can't beat you."

"Of course you couldn't," Jiraiya said smugly, "I'm the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku and you're trying to fight me as someone else."

"What does that even mean?" Naruko shouted, "I have all of his moves and…"

"But none of his heart and power," Jiraiya said calmly. Stepping before the girl, he said, "Having Naruto's moves doesn't make you him and in your case it can actually be a hindrance."

Naruko looked up in surprise as she asked, "W-what do you mean?"

Scratching his chin Jiraiya said, "Well when Naruto leaps in he tends to do so with a forward punch. Naturally most skilled shinobi can avoid this, but my apprentice does it for two reasons. One, it creates the impression that he is a rather straightforward fighter and while he is, he also can be rather tricky with his clones. Due to his in your face style, most opponents tend to overlook this fact. You on the other hand, although you have rather larger chakra reserves have probably discovered you can't use them to the same extent as he does because you lack a Bijuu to replenish your chakra." Summoning his familiar orange toad he sat on its head as he added, "And then there is the most obvious change between you. Going back to how Naruto likes to lead off with a leaping punch, well you just don't have the bulk and power behind your blows to do likewise. When I spared with Naruto even when I blocked him there was enough power to force me to have to adjust my stance. He could use that split moment to follow up with a second attack. In your case when you tried to move me in a similar fashion. Well you've seen the results."

Feeling desponded Naruko said, "Great, so what you're saying is I received nothing of value from him."

"Hey now, let's not make it sound like it's his fault. As near as I can tell he's handled this whole episode rather well. Hell, I think he was more ticked off that you made off with his old jumpsuits then he was with the money. But I think that he is of the opinion that as long as you can find yourself that you'll turn out alright. Considering how money loving that brat is, I think he feels that it's an investment so that you can concentrate on finding your place in this world as opposed to just surviving."

"What place?" Naruko asked while looking down and feeling rotten about her pilfering of Naruto's stuff. "I'm a cheap copy. You said so yourself."

"No, I said you have a move set that's not suited to you. But as to being a cheap copy, well that's utterly ridiculous. The way I see it you're just like a freshly graduated genin. You left the academy with the same set of skills as every other genin. It's as you travel down the path of being a shinobi that you'll grow and learn skills that separate you from the pack. The same could be said for how you entered this world. Don't see it as a curse but as a way to find happiness your own way."

Naruko nodded as she got back to her feet and turned to walk away. She had no idea as to where she should begin though, especially considering she felt that she had burnt her bridge to one of the people that had been willing to help. She stopped though when Jiraiya called out, "Now where do you think you're going?" Naruko stared back at the Sannin in confusion, but he smiled as he said, "In case it's escaped your notice this is a dangerous world and as you are now it would be downright irresponsible of me to let you face it alone. I have some time to kill so how about I help you develop some of those skills that will set you apart from the rest of the pack."

Naruko upon realizing what the Sannin was offering excited spun to face him as she said, "Sure!"

Nodding sagely Jiraiya said, "Good, now before we begin let me explain the rules. Rule one; all lessons will be conducted minus clothing."

Naruko felt her cheeks begin to redden as Jiraiya smiled lecherously. "You pervert," she shouted as she charged the man as he exploded into loud laughter as he defend himself from her attacks. Despite herself Naruko felt a smile appearing on her face as well.

* * *

Naruko darted from rock face to rock face as she searched for some sign of her opponents. She didn't find any, but she did spot her objective which was the Toad summoning scroll. It had been almost two months since her becoming a student of Jiraiya. In that time he had helped her develop a fighting style better suited to her build, but also quite a few techniques associated with the element she shared the most affinity to which was water. It wasn't an affinity that Jiraiya had, but he had been around enough to learn quite a few water jutsu. She had even begun trying to incorporate it into her own completed Rasengan.

In that time she had heard of Pakura's abduction by Hiruko and had been surprised to learn that Jiraiya had been saddened by the missing-nin's death. When she had asked why her teacher had responded, "It's just a sad waste. Hiruko was the type of person that believed strength was attained alone. He never truly understood that strength can also come from relying on others."

In the time they had spent in the Land of Stones Naruko had come to understand that lesson. That wasn't to say she couldn't become extremely frustrated with the perverted hermit. Mainly due to his constant attempts to peek at her, or trick her into rather embarrassing situations. One such time had been when he had convinced her to begin meditating under a waterfall. He had proposed it so nonchalantly and followed his suggestion up by stripping to his underwear before meditating under the falling water that she had followed suit. It had only been a few minutes until she felt a disturbing aura generating from her teacher and upon looking at him to see him staring at her with what she called his pervert face. She realized that due to her wearing a white sports bra and the cold water the dirty old man was enjoying a training version of a wet T-shirt contest. Naturally she had proceeded to put some of her new skills to work in teaching the perverted sage a lesson.

But from the way she could actually beat up her teacher during those moments, she actually suspected they were Jiraiya's way of getting her to accept her gender and from her reactions she had to admit they appeared to be working. Coming to the party late as it were Naruko had made it a habit to buy lady magazines to try and learn things that most girls had mothers for. The first time her period had arrived being just the catalyst she had needed to begin and there was no way in hell she had planned to go to Jiraiya for help with her lady issues. However, despite her unspoken vow not to travel all the way down the path of a woman, she still found herself reading such articles as, "How best to please your man," or "Ten sexy things to drive him wild."

Naruko put such thoughts aside as they didn't help her move any closer to the scroll. Deciding to make a break for it she darted from her pillar but cursed as a bunch of toads appeared on top of the stones surrounding the scroll. Each of them was holding a bow with an arrow at the ready. Although the arrows didn't have points they ended in rather heavy sand bags that if they hit would make her regret it. All at once the toads let loose. Naruko responded by making a handsign that caused her pigtails to grow longer and bushier as they wrapped around her. Protected by the barrier of hair the arrows bounced off harmlessly or got entangled.

Ending the jutsu, she took a deep breath before firing a stream of water from her mouth that hit the toads off the rocks like some carnival game. The summons she hit burst into clouds of smoke returning to their homes. With most of them taken out, she charged her objective able to easily avoid the arrows of the few archers that she had missed. Yet, just before reaching her goal the ground began to soften as it turned into a swamp. Leaping into the air, she summoned a toad that she leaped from which dispelled itself before it could hit the swamp. She landed on the rock the Toad scroll resided on and snatched it up before coming to a rolling finish.

Lying on her back she held it up proudly as she shouted, "I did it!"

Her triumph cry was punctuated by the clapping of Jiraiya who appeared from behind one of the rocks. Sitting up she beamed as he said, "Not bad kid."

Getting to her feat she asked, "What's next?"

"For now, you're going to have to see to your own training for a while." Naruko knew she must have looked crestfallen as Jiraiya said, "Now don't give me that look. It's time you spread your wings a little. I have some business with an old associate and I'm afraid I have to go alone."

"I can help," Naruko said eagerly holding the summoning scroll. "I'm a lot stronger than when we first met."

Jiraiya smiled proudly as he placed a hand on her head before saying, "Yes, you are. But this is still something I need to see through alone. Don't worry kid; I'll be back before you know it. Hold onto that scroll for me until then."

Naruko looked at the scroll that Jiraiya normally wore and to which he was entrusting her. Looking back up she said, "Me? Are you sure you really want me to hold onto it?"

"Of course I am. You're my apprentice aren't you? Why wouldn't I entrust it to you?"

"I…I just thought…"

Rustling her hair, he said, "I thought I warned you against that."

Naruko pushed his hand from her head and Jiraiya began to walk away. Looking over his shoulder he said, "Don't worry about staying here if you do not want to. I'll find you after my business is complete."

"Be careful," Naruko shouted to which Jiraiya just waved over his shoulder. Placing the scroll on her back similar to how Jiraiya wore it, Naruko also grabbed her backpack and decided it was time to start her own journey.

* * *

Naruko's journey had taken her from Stone, to Wind and currently River country. She was making a small name for herself as an unaligned shinobi that would take on dangerous jobs for far less than what a village would charge. She doubted that Suna, where most of her work had been done, would mind since she had taken out a few bandit groups that had been harassing villages that couldn't afford to hire the Shinobi Village. This tended to mean that a bunch of villages would need to be attacked before the local governor would pony up the cash to hire shinobi to deal with the problem. Let alone muster his own guards.

That still didn't mean she wanted to get too close to Suna less they begin to take notice, so once her work had dried up she had moved onto River Country. She was in one of the country's major villages and just stepping out of a local magistrate's office after turning in a wanted criminal when she received a shock. She had ducked back into the office and peeking out to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her cursed as she saw Karin. Quite aware of the kunoichi's chakra sensing capabilities, she feared for a moment that Naruto's lovers had caught up to her.

But from the lack of reaction from the red head she came to the belief her presence was a coincidence. Also, aware that due to her different chakra nature it was likely that the Uzumaki had no idea who it was she would be sensing even if she did detect Naruko's presence decided to follow her. A part of her considered approaching the red-head since one reasons Naruko was working so hard was to pay back what she had taken from Naruto. But she decided that at the very least she should apologize to him in person.

Keeping her distance and her chakra as suppressed as possible, she was surprised when the red-head entered one of the nicer hotels the city had to offer. Naruko ducked down an alley before climbing an adjacent building hoping to catch some sight of the kunoichi. She did through a window as she emerged from an elevator that exited into a penthouse on top of the hotel. From her vantage point she watched as Karin stripped out of her clothes before heading to the kitchen to pour herself some champagne. She then headed straight towards the back of the penthouse and to a fenced off area that she knew housed one of the Hotels key attractions an outdoor private pool and Jacuzzi.

Her curiously getting the better of her, Naruko leapt to the building where in a matter that would make Jiraiya proud she scratched at the wooden fencing until she had made a small peeping hole. She looked through it and stared in shock just as Karin sat down on the edge of the whirlpool tube behind a partially submerged Naruto. On either side of him were an equally naked Tayuya and Fubuki. He leaned back into the naked red-head who gave him a sip of her drink as she said, "It was nice of Tsunade to let you off of your medical leave so that you could spend the day with us. I would have hated to rent this penthouse for my business meeting only to have no one waiting for me when I got back."

Naruto nodded as he said, "Yeah, once she learned from Rin that I had been injured she said I would be getting nothing but bed rest for the next week. I'm glad you suggested it."

Fubuki smiled as she rubbed a hand on her lover's chest to say, "And how much rest have you been getting under your personal medical teams care."

Karin answered as she had recently been taking medical classes in her role as a reservist shinobi of Konoha, since due to the special chakra nature, she often could get result as good if not better than even Tsunade or Sakura. "About as much as you're probably thinking."

Tayuya grumbled, "I should have become a fucking medic."

Naruto turned to the red-head saying tenderly although his voice sounded strained, "But then you wouldn't be able to help Koyuki as her manager."

Tayuya's reply of, "But I'd get more access to your cock," Was swallowed by the eruption of Koyuki as she surfaced from beneath the whirlpool's surface. Although her back was turned towards Naruko, she could hear the smile in the woman's voice as she asked, "How was that Naruto?"

"You were down there for almost five minutes," the blond answered.

"She might have done better if she wasn't trying so hard to make you cum," Fubuki said as her hand slipped below the water. Naruto grunted as she began to stroke him and from the way Koyuki's arms had also still been moving. Naruko suspected she was aiding the Snow Country's princess efforts.

Naruto smiled as he said, "Still that's quite impressive for a civilian. Somebody's been training hard lately."

Koyuki continued to stroke her lover beneath the water's surface as she said, "Well it's for the upcoming Princess Gale movie. When we find the right script I want to be able to get started on it right away."

Naruto leaned back as he said, "Really, I thought it was because of all the shinobi training you've been doing as of late."

Koyuki immediately asked in surprise, "Who told you?"

"You did," Naruto replied leaning forward and sticking his hand in the water Koyuki gasped as she suddenly stiffened making Naruko guess Naruto was fingering her snatch. She could tell from the way his other arm was moving he was running it along Koyuki's thigh. Staring up at his lightly moaning princess he said, "I'm hurt to think that you didn't think I'd notice the changes to your body."

"W-what changes?" Koyuki moaned as the other women began to get into the act. Karin slipped into the water behind Naruto due to his moving forward. She pushed her breasts up against his back while her hands moved up and down his chest. Fubuki meanwhile leaned forward to take one of Koyuki's nipples into her mouth, while Tayuya disappeared beneath the water's surface to enjoy Naruto one-eyed serpent.

"Come now," Naruto said almost reproachfully, "These thighs although always shapely now have the tone of an athlete." Koyuki leaned back further as Naruto added another digit to her cunt, while moving his other hand up to her arm and then down to her hand. Holding it up he linked his fingers with hers he said, "And these delicate hands are developing the callouses that one often seen when training to properly hold and throw kunai. But the question is why?"

Koyuki leaned forward to take Naruto face between her hands as she replied, "Because I don't want to just be the princess that gets locked away in a tower waiting for her prince to come home. I want to be there at your side as you face your foes and help you triumph over them." She leaned forward then tasting his lips, but whimpered as he withdrew his fingers from her quim.

Pushing her back he said, "Still why not tell me. I could help you train."

"Um, do we really have to talk about that now," Koyuki asked. "I think I'd much rather we…"

Naruto placed his fingers against her mouth causing Koyuki to suck her juices from them as he said, "Trust me, you're going to enjoy this training."

With his other hand he pulled Tayuya from beneath the water causing her to say, "Hey, I wasn't fucking done with that."

"Don't worry. You'll be filled up soon enough, but let's have a little training exercise. All four of you get on your hands and knees on top of the water."

**Lemon that would be here has been removed due to their still being children of 13 yrs old or younger in the world. Sorry, but if you want this lemon please check out FicWad.**

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Upon sneaking back into her motel room she had quickly stripped in order to wash away the evidence of her indulging in her female form. Over the past two months she had found it harder and harder to resist as the chemicals and hormones of her body made their desires known. Now standing under the spray of the water she continued to find herself haunted, by how good her self-exploration had felt. That and the images of the Naruto's lovers' faces as they experienced the deep satisfaction of being filled in a way that only a woman could know. Instinctually, she knew that the finger that she had slid into herself early would feel like nothing compared to the dick those women had enjoyed.

Naruko stepped out of the shower and pushed those thoughts from her mind. While she was no longer as bitter about her female body, she still refused to succumb to what she felt was simply the hormones of the gender given to her by Kyuubi. Chalking the weakness she had let overcome her earlier up to simply the highly arousing display Naruto and his lovers had put on, she told herself that in the future she would be better prepared. After all, now that she had indulged the one time it wouldn't be such a mystery in the future.

Wrapping a towel around her body and one around her head to dry her hair, she stepped from the bathroom and sat on the bed. Turning on the television her eyes bugged out their sockets as her room was filled with the sounds of a women moaning as she was pumped by a large muscled man. Cursing the last occupant of the room for leaving it on a porn channel, she fumbled with the remote before succeeding in changing the channel.

Turning it to a channel that was in the middle of a commercial she began to pull the towel around her body open. Her attention was pulled back to the TV as the announcer said, "We now return you to your movie, Make Out Paradise."

Again, Naruko felt like curing as she looked for the remote as her towel slipped from her body, but stopped in her search as the movie began to play. Catching the last act where the protagonist had confessed his love to Koyuki's character and they decided to celebrate their shared desires as only lovers could, Naruko watched mesmerized as Koyuki began to moan in pleasure. Despite the version on the television being edited even more than the theater one, and the knowledge that the bits of skinship being shown was not Koyuki, Naruko's insiders knowledge that the moans she was hearing were the same as the ones she had drank in earlier that day had an effect on her.

The sounds of Koyuki's pleasure took her back to that afternoon and the sun soaked roof where she had seen pure female satisfaction put on display. Unable to escape the sights and sounds of her theater of the mind, Naruko raised her leg resting the heel of her foot on the edge of the bed as she began to gentle stroke her pussy lips. Finding the proof in her wetness that despite her early resolve not to indulge in such things her body knew what it wanted, Naruko slide a finger inside her and moaned as she fell back onto the bed. Her other hand quickly sought out her breast where she tweaked and played with her nipple as her cries joined in harmony with Koyuki's coming from the television. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if much like the princess whose cries of pleasure were egging her on, she would also find someone that filled her with a desire to become something more than she was now. But, such thoughts were for later as she fell deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of pleasure.

**Next chapter: Ino**

**Author's Note: Well, let me first thank everyone who takes the time to review. Knowing this story is so well received really keeps me motivated. Also, for those reading the edited Fanfiction dot net version, you can find the unedited one on my FicWad account. Just use the link located on my profile page. **

**In keeping with the release schedule I mentioned in one of my journal entries on DeviantArt, link to that is also on my profile, I will release this chapter on AFF in around a month or so. So until next time take care, sincerely the Lemon Sage.**


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